In The Heat Of Passion
by crbrgmi
Summary: Lucy finished school and wants to help her ailing mother. Natsu is a firefighter, transferring to a new town where he wants to plant his roots and raise a family with his wife, Lisanna. Zeref is there to provide support and courage for his brother. The four of them never imagined their paths would cross and lead them into lives of love, passion, betrayal, revenge, and murder.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay, first things first, if you're looking for a happy ending, then you're looking in the wrong place. I can't imagine a happy ending for anyone in this story, as of yet. Second, I'm just posting this as a trial, I guess, to see the amount of publicity it gets. If people like it, then I'll update regularly. If not, then I'll just update whenever I feel like it. So, I guess you kind of been warned? Don't expect happy things to happen. So, don't say I didn't warn you!**

 **Also, anyone watch Wayne's World? Remember that scene towards the beginning where they're introducing the diner guy? He looks at the camera and says, "Why is it, that when a man kills another man in battle, it's called heroic, but if he kills another man in the heat of passion, it's called murder?" Yeah, this story actually came off that line. Heh, funny, right?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. I am not doing this for any sort of profit. This story is purely for the enjoyment of those who enjoy dark stories with lots of swearing, some death, fires, and jealousy. So, R &R and tell me what you think.**

~.~

A sigh escaped her lips as she watched the scenery fly by her. It wasn't anything new - the same trees, bushes, towns, and people she's seen every spring and fall of her short adult life. Hopefully, if all were to go as planned, this would be the last time she'd have to endure it.

This was the last year of school, and then she could say goodbye to that miserable, depressing campus, and this boring train ride. She smiled as she turned away from the window, her gaze falling onto her clasped hands in her lap. She held her end of the bargain - she completed college, top of her class, valedictorian - so her parents had no other option than to let her follow her own path, her own dreams.

Her father was especially reserved, the one she really had to impress. According to his plan that he's had since she was a child, she was supposed to go to school, get a top education, and, when she'd graduated, she'd take over the family company, get married to the man she'd been arranged to marry, and have a family all on her own. She was able to get her mother into talking her father into this bargain. He would approve of her own future that she chose for herself, as long as she was number one at school. She had gone to a very prestigious school, so becoming number one wasn't an easy feat; in fact, she almost lost all hope towards the end, but fate was on her side when her rival marked one of the answers on his math final wrong, and she had gotten a perfect score, plus extra credit.

Oh, that victory was the sweetest sensation she's ever felt. How smug she had been, rubbing her final score in that egotistical bastard's face. The scowl he had given her was good enough to kill, but she was still living, and she was free to live her own life. He hadn't known why she was working so hard to beat him - he thought it was a pride thing, since that's the only reason why he was working so hard, but little did he know that her entire life was on the line. She didn't feel he needed an explanation, either, so she allowed herself this victory, and celebrated long and hard with her roommates, ending the night with a bout of passionate screwing with her rival, five years worth of pent up frustrations, one last battle to see who was better than the other. She was, naturally, but he wasn't too bad himself. Besides, they weren't ever going to see each other again, so why not?

The train jostled slightly, pulling her out of her reverie.

"Would you like a drink, Miss Heartfilia?"

Lucy blinked up at the stewardess, and politely declined. She was floating on cloud nine, and she couldn't afford to let anything pull her down. Alcoholic or not, she didn't want a drink. However, she did feel she deserved a nice smoke. Mavis, she hadn't had a cigarette in forever, or at least that's how long it felt. She was proud of her self control, able to focus on other things than be pulled into the world of addicted to nicotine. However, now that she could afford to free her mind, she knew it was only a matter of time before she became one of those smokers, but she didn't mind, not right now, anyway.

She stood from her seat and made her way towards the back car. She was sitting in the first class car, so her journey would be a little long, but the ending result would be worth the trek.

She was able to easily navigate through the cars - passing the lower class seating cars, the dining car, the baggage car - until she could take a break in the last one, another baggage car. She sat on a crate and took out her pack. She had bought this one at the beginning of the school year, and only three of the twelve were taken out. Lightning her cigarette, she leaned back against another crate, pulling her legs up folding them at the knees.

She held out her left hand, and inspected the ring on her fourth finger. She never thought she'd be happy to end an engagement, but she was, oh, she was absolutely ecstatic. The gaudy diamond shimmered in the low light. The diamond was so comically huge, that she had been the object of much teasing since she was sixteen and forced to wear it. Unable to hide her smile, she easily pulled the golden band off her finger, and, without another thought, slanted her hand and let the ring tumble to the floor. She didn't bother to watch where it fell, nor did she care. If her ex-fiance demanded it back, her father could easily afford to pay it off. There was no way that ring was of any significance to his family, so there'd be no issue.

Good riddance to the little worm, was all she could say. She took a long drag of the cigarette, and leaned her head back on the crate behind her, closing her eyes and allowed herself to relax. She felt like she was on those drugs that her friends had tried to pressure her into using. They said the little pills made her feel weightless, and content with the world. That was how she felt now, allowing the nicotine and jostling of the train lull her into a comfortable happiness that she couldn't even begin to describe.

She brought the stick up to take another drag, but jumped as she felt it slide from her fingers. She opened her eyes and jumped up to a straight sitting position, afraid that she'd lost hold of the cigarette and it had fallen to the ground. Her panic subsided when she realized that she didn't drop it, it was taken from her.

She blinked up at the man standing next to her, smiling down at her, the cigarette held between his thumb and forefinger. He was tan, his onyx eyes and pink hair taking her breath away. He wore a white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a black, open vest over the shirt. He wore black slacks, and nice shiny black shoes. The only thing that seemed out of place with his outfit was the white scarf that hung on his shoulders. It was an odd thing to wear, especially since it was so warm in the last car, even she could feel herself perspiring a little.

He was handsome, and the way he smiled down at her made her stomach flutter with false anticipation. There's no way anything romantic would happen between them, but it was fun to think about. She was, after all, going to be a journalist, an author, so her mind was overly creative.

"This is bad for your health, you know?" he said quietly. Without waiting for an answer, he crushed the burning end against the crate she was sitting on, effectively killing the burning poison. She watched him with fascination. Oh, he was handsome all right, and she was officially a single woman now, she was allowed to admire - not like her engagement stopped her before.

Speaking of which, he held up her ring with his other hand. "Is this yours?"

A laugh escaped her lips, and she didn't bother to stifle it. Technically no, it wasn't, and she was trying to get rid of it. Honestly, she had hoped she would never see that offensive object ever again. Who knew she'd see it not two minutes after dropping it, and being held by a handsome stranger, of all people!

He looked a little baffled, like he was unsure of her meaning behind her laugh. She waved her hand in front of her as she tried to calm down. She took a couple deep breaths before gently taking the ring from his grasp. She rolled the ring around on her palm as she settled down.

"It was," she murmured, but then tilted her head slightly. "No, actually, I don't think this ever belonged to me, even though I've been wearing it every day for the last nine years." She grabbed his hand and gently placed it in his palm, and closed his fingers over it. His hand felt warm, and, even in the current heat, she rather enjoyed it. "You keep it. Use it for your loved one, pawn it, sell it, I don't care." She reluctantly let go and leaned back against the crate.

"I can't accept this," he breathed out, holding his closed fist to her. "This looks way too expensive, and meaningful for you to just give to me."

"Think of it as a reward, then. You gave me valuable advice about smoking, so I give you that ring in gratitude for saving my life."

He shook his head and thrust his fist at her again. She sighed and shifted, throwing her legs over the side of the crate, facing him. She covered his hand with both of hers, and gently pushed his hand against his chest. She didn't fail to notice that, the way she was sitting now, she could be straddling him if he just stepped in a little, but she didn't hold her breath.

"This ring symbolizes my imprisonment to my old life. I don't want to see it, ever again. Please, take it."

He bit his bottom lip and pocketed the evil trinket. He shoved his other hand in his other pocket, and shrugged a little. "Did he break your heart?"

She laughed again, shaking her head. "Actually I'm the one breaking it off."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was an arranged marriage, so there were no feelings involved anyway."

"Arranged? People still do that?" He looked away and scowled. "It's disgusting how parents can force their children to marry whoever the hell they want them to marry, just to further their own successes."

"Speaking from experience?"

"No, but the whole concept is just appalling. People should be allowed to marry for love, not money. Now, I'm not completely ignorant to know there are people out there who do marry for money, but at least they chose to live shitty lives, and it wasn't forced upon them."

Lucy stared at him as he rambled. She wanted nothing more than to grab him and kiss him for the way he was, unknowingly, defending her right to do what she wanted with her future. She bit her lip and glanced down, holding herself back from doing anything she'd regret later.

"So, uh, what brings you on the train?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. She raised her eyes to look at him through her bangs, a slight smirk on her lips. "I mean, other than the obvious."

She took a deep breath. "I'm going home. I just finished my last year of college."

He nodded. "Congratulations. I never had a chance to go, myself, but with my line of work there really was no need. I'm a firefighter," he answered after seeing her questioning look.

"Oh, keeping an eye on our train to make sure there's no danger?"

"Not really, but it's a good thing I was here." He took his hand out of his pocket and reached over to pick up the dead and almost forgotten cigarette that he had lay down next to her, his body getting closer to hers. "Not only are these bad for your health, but there's also no smoking on this train." He leaned close to her to whisper that last part, and she could almost feel herself get pulled closer to him, almost as if they were opposite sides of magnets. He cleared his throat and straightened himself out.

"I know, that's why I came back here to smoke it," she answered with a shrug. "I didn't think anyone else would be back here." She smirked. "Why are you back here, if not to break the rules?"

"Ah, I have terrible motion sickness." He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "I came back here to ride it out until my meds kicked in. My wife can't stand my moaning and groaning."

Immediately her smile dropped. To say she was disappointed was an understatement, but she knew not to expect anything to happen with him. He's married. Of course he's married. A good looking guy like him? There's no way any girl in his life would let him walk around as an eligible bachelor - if she had known him on a personal level, she'd have snatched him and made him unavailable the first chance she got.

He blinked down at her, obviously noticing her disappointment. He felt a little bad for unknowingly leading her on, so he was glad he mentioned his wife when he did. She was a very attractive young woman, he wasn't going to deny, and, if he hadn't been married, he probably would have made a move on her. He probably mentioned his wife as an unconscious warning to himself not to get too close to this woman, especially with the way she was sitting...Her legs situated on either side of his own legs, only inches away from him. Her low cut shirt gave him a full view of a pair of very pleasing-to-the-eyes mounds.

He gulped as the warmth of the car seemed to sky rocket, and he could feel himself start to sweat a little.

Lucy took a deep breath as she pushed herself off the crate, nearly bumping into the man in front of her. She squeaked as the train jostled again, and she lost her balance, crashing into him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her to steady her, and they both regretted the contact. She could feel his well toned, firefighter body under his shirt, and she inwardly groaned in disappointment. She thanked him for catching her, and she reluctantly pushed off him.

"Well, I better get back to my seat." She walked backward a couple steps, clasping her hands behind her. "It was nice to meet you, Mr…"

"Ah, Dragneel. I'm Natsu Dragneel."

All of a sudden Lucy's face fell and she felt like she wanted someone to appear out of nowhere to dig her into a giant hole. Dragneel was the surname of her academic rival. It was just a coincidence, right? Natsu didn't look anything like him...yeah, it was just a coincidence.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Mr. Natsu Dragneel." Her voice came out rushed and breathy. She bit her bottom lip, wondering if she should chance telling him her name. Sure, it was the polite thing to do, but what if he was related to her rival, and he happened to bring her name up, and her rival tells him stories about her college days? Oh well, who cared, right? It wasn't like she was ever going to see them again. "My name is Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia." She waved at him as she turned away from him. "I hope we meet again!" she called as she rushed out of the car.


	2. Chapter 2

"Natsu?"

Natsu hummed in response to his wife's enquiry. He glanced up at her as he took a seat next to her, and smiled.

"You're feeling better?" She reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers together.

"I am." His mouth had gone dry in the last few minutes. He was still stuck in his thoughts about the girl he met in the baggage car. He was used to getting hit on by various women, but this one was different. He was more than willing to let the experience go as a chance meeting in a train for two strangers, but the moment she told him her name he knew it was anything but a chance meeting.

The ring in his pocket felt like it was burning a hole in the fabric. He should just get rid of it, toss it out the window and hope it gets lost forever. He wasn't stupid enough to turn a ring into a pawnshop, especially now that he knew it belonged to Lucy Heartfilia. He glanced down at his wife as she rested her head against his shoulder. He wouldn't get away with throwing a ring out of the window in front of her, and he was a terrible liar, so he would be forced to tell her the truth. She was a very tolerant woman, but he still couldn't predict how she'd react to him telling her that he met his boss's daughter on this same train.

In the end, Natsu refused to think about what would have happened in his hypothetical world, and decided to be content with the way things turned out. He didn't get into trouble with his boss's daughter, his job was secure, and he was still faithful to his wife. He sighed and leaned his head against the seat.

"Oh, Natsu, I didn't know you'd be back so soon, I'd have gotten you some food."

The married couple looked up to see Natsu's brother, taking his own spot across from them. He held a tray of food, and handed his sister-in-law a sandwich.

Natsu shook his head and laid a hand on his stomach, already starting to feel the organ twisting and clenching at the sight and smell of the food.

"It's probably best that I didn't have anything to eat," the pink haired man said, letting go of his wife's hand so she could eat freely. "The Troia is a wonder drug, but it only works so well."

The other man nodded, and took a bite of his sandwich. "Fair enough," he mumbled, talking with his mouth full.

Natsu's face turned an odd shade of green as he watched his brother eat the sandwich. Without another word, he stood up from his spot and ran to the nearest bathroom.

Lisanna and Zeref watched him as he hurriedly pushed people out of his way. The woman sighed and slouched in her seat.

"Poor Natsu," she cooed, picking at the bread.

Zeref shrugged, scowling out the window. "Can't be helped. Like he said, Troia isn't perfect. Hopefully this is the last time he has to ride a train for a long time."

"Speaking of which…" The woman set her sandwich in her lap. She reached across the way and took her older brother-in-law's hands in her own. He stared at her, seemingly uninterested, but she knew that's just how he was. "You have no idea how much it means to him that you're here. Since you just finished school, it would only make sense that you'd rather take a break, but, still, thank you."

The raven haired man gave her a small smile, retracting his hands from hers. He didn't detest her, he just didn't like to be touched in general. On the contrary, Zeref adored his brother's younger wife. He immediately accepted her into the family, treating her like a sister ever since Natsu first brought her home.

"He's my little brother," he said, his eyes focusing on the bathroom door that Natsu disappeared behind just moments before. "I'd do anything to make sure he stays happy and comfortable." He took another bite of his food. "It's understandable, though. It's a big transition for him. He's going from living in a large, bustling city, to Smalltown, Fiore. He's used to being around a lot of people, and, apparently, the townsfolk aren't exactly immediately friendly to outsiders."

"The only thing we can do for him is give him our love and support, and hope he does well without picking a fight with anyone."

"How are you feeling about all this?"

Lisanna blinked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're kind of in the same boat, aren't you? You've lived in Magnolia all your life. You're leaving behind your sister and brother, and going to an unfamiliar place where you'll be expected to spend the rest of your life, assuming he stays with this fire department."

Listening to him talk, Lisanna bit her bottom lip and glanced out the window. "I'm trying to not think too much on it, Zeref," she whispered. "Again, this is all for him. This is his big opportunity, and I'm not going to ruin it for him because I'm being homesick." She sighed. "I wasn't expecting to move away from my family so soon, but we can't stay attached our nests forever, right? We're just spreading our wings and living our lives for ourselves, now."

"Well, that makes me feel better about leaving him at the end of the month." He wiped his mouth as he finished his meal. "As long as he has you with him, he'll be fine."

Lisanna smiled brightly. "And as long I have him, I'll be okay, as well."

Zeref smiled, one of the rare times he's actually been happy enough to smile at anyone. "Finish your sandwich, I don't want you passing out due to malnutrition."

The woman giggled. "I'm not going to die because I didn't eat a lunch one time." But she took a bite of her food regardless.

~.~  
The train pulled into the station at 10:30 that night, and Lucy was exhausted. Ever since that conversation with Natsu in the baggage car, she hadn't been able to sit calmly. She didn't know why she was so nervous about him, especially since there really was no positive way to tell if Zeref Dragneel and Natsu Dragneel were related. They didn't look anything alike, and she's spent the last five years of her life at Zeref's neck, competing for the number one spot - she would know if there were any similarities between the two.

Granted, they were both the same height, same muscle build - from what she remembered when Natsu stopped her from falling over - and their eyes were about the same color, but those were such broad similarities that they probably shared with 67% of the male population in the whole world. The only thing about them that really stood out to her was their surname. Dragneel wasn't very common; then again, what did she know? She didn't really socialize herself with anyone other than her roommate, her roommate's friends on occasion, and Zeref himself. She hardly ever left campus, she didn't find it prudent to find out about Zeref's family, not to mention the two of them weren't really close at all.

That's right, why was she so nervous? She and Zeref didn't have any sort of relationship other than a simple rivalry, which she came out on top. There was that one night after graduation, but that was more like a final "fuck you" and they parted ways after that, not likely to ever come in contact with one another after that.

No, she wasn't nervous because Natsu might be related to Zeref...she was just scolding herself because she wanted to get closer to Natsu, and then he revealed that he was married. She couldn't believe herself to be so stupid. Was he wearing a ring? She didn't even bother to notice, nor did she really care to find out his status before hitting on him, and giving him her engagement ring.

She exited the train and immediately made her way through the crowd, making a beeline for the car that she knew would be waiting for her. She just wanted to get home, and either go straight to bed or have a really big alcoholic drink. Maybe her mother would let her take Virgo and Aries out for a much needed girls' night. She hadn't spent a fun evening with her two favorite girls, and she wanted nothing more than go out with them.

She found the car, just like she knew she would. A man dressed in a dark suit, wearing black sunglasses - despite it being night out - leaned against the side of the car, his hands in his pockets, his jaw moving as he chewed gum. The moment he laid eyes on her, he smirked, and pushed off the car. She dropped her carry on bag, and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.

"Welcome home, Princess," the ginger haired man whispered, rubbing her back.

"I'm so happy to be home, you have no idea, Loke," she whimpered, pulling away from him. He patted her head before opening the back door for her. He slammed the door shut when he was sure she was all the way in, grabbed her bag off the ground, and situated himself in the front passenger seat. He nodded at the driver, an older gentleman with white hair and a white goatee, also wearing a black suit and black sunglasses. He started the engine and they slowly parted from the train station.

Lucy leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the driver's shoulders. "You two don't look suspicious at all, you know? Why do you wear sunglasses at night?"

"So I can, so I can," Loke began, singing in a horrible off key tone, "forget my name while you collect your claim." He was rewarded with a swift backhand on the arm from his friend, and he and Lucy laughed. "Aw, Caprico, you're no fun at all."

"I can be plenty fun," the older man said. "Just not while I'm driving. Welcome home, by the way, Miss Lucy."

"Thank you, Caprico."

"Now, could you please sit back and buckle up? Seatbelts save lives."

Loke chuckled as Lucy did as she was told. "I don't think seatbelts are going to save the poor bastard who decides to hit our car with you driving, old friend."

"That was one time. The man was drunk, and I had Mrs. Layla and baby Miss Lucy in the back. I wasn't going to tolerate driving under the influence, especially when the two women I treasure most were in the car at the time."

"I never heard about that," Lucy piped up from the back, finishing off with a yawn so big it cracked her jaw.

"You were just a toddler, Princess," Loke said, turning around and giving her a big smile. He pushed his sunglasses up and rested them on top of his head. "So, first in your class, huh? Congratulations. I think we need to celebrate."

Lucy blushed slightly. Only her bodyguards could make her feel humble about her achievements. "It's not that big of a deal," she mumbled. "I only did it so Father would let me break off my stupid engagement."

Loke burst out laughing. "Oh, you should have seen his face when he got the news. He was so mad. You do know that he's going to make you do it, right? He said he doesn't want to be around when that poor boy's heart breaks."

"Poor boy, my ass," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "He doesn't want to be around when they realize the deal is off, and he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of their fury."

"Yeah, well, it's understandable. Both families were really counting on this union to further their profits." Loke brought his glasses back down, and he slouched in his seat. "You know how rich men are. The moment there's an obstacle blocking their way of more money, shit's going to hit the fan, and it's not going to be pretty."

"It doesn't matter." She sighed and brought her legs up, curling them under her, and she leaned her back against the car door, giving out another yawn. "I'll only have to deal with it until the fall, and I'll be long gone out of this place."

"Do you have any idea where you're going to be going to, Miss Lucy?" Caprico asked, glancing at her movements from the rearview mirror.

"I discussed it a little with my roommate, and she said I could go stay with her for a little bit until I get a job and can afford my own place." She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the car seat.

Loke breathed deeply as he glanced over at his friend. They knew of Lucy and Jude's little deal, but how much of it was Jude really going to honor? Only the old man, himself, knew, and it was going to be a surprise for everyone when he acts on it. Honestly, the two men sitting up front would be surprised if Jude acted on his promises to Lucy, so that only meant they weren't expecting anything pleasant to come out of the father-daughter conversation that would be going on the next morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning! Lemon ahead! If you don't like it, then...skip to the next ~.~ sign. I wouldn't blame you for skipping, I'm not that good at writing smut. :/**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or its characters. The plot of this story is all mine**.

~.~

Pants and moans filled the air, Lucy's hands clenching the bedsheets so tight her knuckles were turning white. She couldn't lose to him, she refused. It was so easy to beat him in their scores, but this was an entirely different ball park. Her thighs clenched as he worked on her womanhood, pushing her closer and closer to the edge.

She shook her head, biting her bottom lip, but unable to stop the moan from escaping. Only one more minute. If she could last 60 seconds, she'd be number one again, but this victory wasn't looking promising. She squealed as his tongue circled around inside and out, his hands grasping her legs, holding them down. No hands, that was the rule, and he was doing fantastically.

"Come on, Lucy," he whispered, his eyes moving up her writhing body to look at her face. "You're trying so hard to outlast my time, but you're just hurting yourself."

"Shut the fuck up, Zeref," she breathed. "I beat you once, I can do it again."

"Not this time, girlie." He flicked his tongue against her sweet spot, and she couldn't stop herself from letting go. She climaxed hard, screaming out his name as her body spasmed with the best orgasm she'd ever had - but she'd never openly admit that to him, or anybody.

He sat up and waited for her calm down before climbing up her body and smirking down at her. "Number one in the books, but number two in bed." He tsked, leaning down to gently bite her neck.

"Fuck you, Zeref."

"Oh, and I think that deserves a reward, as well. I managed to make you curse me twice in under thirty seconds."

"That's because you're a fucking evil bastard." She glared at him as he picked his head up and smirked smugly down at her. He rolled his hips, hitting her clit, causing her twitch as she hadn't fully calmed down from her climax. She hissed quietly, grabbing his hips to stop him from doing it again. "See? Evil."

"I am evil, and don't you forget it, _blondie_." He thrust into her opening, not giving her any more time to recover. She gasped loudly at the sudden penetration, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"Oh, I'm planning on forgetting everything about you...oh...come morning," she breathed out. She couldn't see his face - he had dropped his head and continued nibbling and sucking her neck - but she could tell by the way his pace quickened that her words affected him somehow.

He growled low as he started to pound into her relentlessly, bringing her to the edge again, so quickly. She clawed at his back as her insides felt like they were on fire, but she welcomed the warmth. He lifted his body so he could reach deeper, but he didn't let up the pace. She looked up at him for only a moment, seeing his eyes closed, his mouth open wide as he breathed heavily in a look of pure pleasure. She bit her bottom lip, her stomach fluttering at the thought that she was the one making him feel that way.

He grunted and his head dropped as his orgasm hit him, his pace faltering as he emptied himself into the condom. His strength left him, and he leaned forward, grabbing hold of the headboard as he tried to catch his breath. He opened his eyes and looked down at her.

She scoffed, not wanting to openly admit that this egotistical man was probably the best sex she's had, even though she's only been with one other person. She didn't want his ego to get bigger than it already was. She was able to knock him down a couple pegs with their academics, she didn't need it to grow back to unbearable again.

He smirked down at her, and leaned down, his eyes sliding down to stare at her lips. She gulped when she realized how close he was to her face. He stopped just inches away from her lips, their noses just barely touching.

No kissing, she thought to herself. That was the other rule they set. They could do anything else, but touch lips to lips. However, having his face so close to hers, feeling both of their hearts pounding in sync with each other, she wanted nothing more than to have his lips press against her own. He licked his lips, bumped her nose with his playfully, and he pulled out of her, immediately cleaning himself up and getting dressed.

She sat up in her bed and watched his every move. She had to admit that she loved the way his muscles moved as he worked his way around her room, gathering his belongings. He pulled his pants on, but stopped there. He held his shirt, socks, and shoes in his arms, and he made his way to her door. Just before opening it, however, he turned back to her, and gave her a curt nod.

"Good luck, Heartfilia," he said, before opening the door.

"Good luck, Dragneel," she called after him. He glanced back at her, and she could have sworn she saw him smile at her before the door closed behind him.

~.~  
Lucy opened her eyes, her heart pounding as she roused from her dream. Placing a hand to her forehead, she found that she was sweating. Sitting up, she glanced around her room.

That was two weeks ago, the last time she had seen Zeref. She had kept her word, and forgot about him, completely, at least, until she had a run in with his relative on the train the day before. Perhaps that's why she had that dream? She brought her hand up and she bit her thumb nail.

The last time she saw him, he smiled at her. It wasn't an evil, smug grin, like he always did otherwise...no, this was a genuine smile that reached all the way to his eyes. She had never seen that on him before, and it had stunned her for the rest of the night. She remembered thinking that he might actually be human after all.

She switched nails to chew on, and realized she need a cigarette, before she had no more nails to chew on. She opened the drawer in her nightstand, and grabbed the pack, retrieving a single cigarette. She paused, holding the white stick in her fingers as another Dragneel face permeated her mind. Twirling the object in her fingers, she decided the two weren't really that different after all. That smile...they had the same smile. She clenched her fist, and shook her head, getting her thoughts to change.

She climbed out of bed and made her way to her balcony, opening the double doors and relishing the cool morning air as it hit her. She took a deep breath and smiled contently. No matter how much she wanted to get out of that house, she couldn't admit that she hated her home. No, she didn't like her father trying to run her life - he didn't have anything to do with the clean air, the quaint little town just down the road, the peaceful forest life.

She stuck the cigarette in her mouth and lit it with her lighter, the logo of her school printed on the plastic. She took a deep drag before she leaned her elbows against the railing. She didn't know why she was fretting over the incident on the train yesterday. For all she knew, that was a one time thing, and she'd never set eyes on either Dragneel again. Good riddance, she thought to herself. Life would be so much more calmer for her if she didn't have to set eyes on either man.

"Good morning, sunshine."

Lucy smiled, but didn't turn around, even when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and her body was pressed against her bodyguard's chest.

"Good morning, Loke."

"So…" He glanced down at her, a smirk of amusement evident on his face. "Have a good dream?"

Lucy blushed, and hit him on his chest, pulling away from him. "What the hell? Do you _still_ watch me in my sleep, you creeper?"

The man held up his hands defensively and took a single step back. "No, no, I learned my lesson from last time." He put his hands on his hips. "Actually, Aries was the one who told me. Is there something you wish to share with me, Princess?"

"Uh, no?"

"Who's Dragneel, then?" He gasped dramatically and put his hands to his cheeks in mock horror. "Did you get a boyfriend when you were away at school? How could you cheat on me like that?" He buried his face in his arm and pretended to cry.

Lucy sighed, not wanting to get into how accurate he actually was to her almost causing a man to cheat on his wife. This was different, though...Loke wasn't her lover, and they never would have a relationship like that. He was more like an older brother to her. Besides, he was with Aries, and, though she was the dictionary definition of timid, she wouldn't think twice about cutting off his man parts should she discover he was ever unfaithful to her.

"He wasn't a boyfriend," she mumbled, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Eh? Then what was he? You're the not the type of girl to just screw around." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the railing.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it, okay?" She stubbed out the burning cigarette and walked back into her room, Loke following.

"Okay, but just to warn you, if you keep something like that hidden, it'll want to come to the surface so bad that one day, it'll just explode in your face. Not to mention now I'm super curious, and I'll probably bug you about it for the rest of your life until you finally tell me about it."

"It's not as big of deal as you're making it out to be, Loke." Lucy opened her closet and placed a finger on her lips, determining which outfit would be suitable for breaking some poor sap's heart. She ignored the man who leaned against the closet door, an amused smile on his face.

"I don't think it's as pointless are _you're_ making it out to be." He ducked as she threw a piece of clothing at him. "I mean, you're not the girl who just finds a guy to fuck every now and again. You're not like that, you have standards. So, with knowing you're past, this guy isn't just some schmuck you picked up off the street. There has to be _something_ there."

She sighed, stopping at a light purple shirt. He was right - of course he was. She's only really had a serious relationship once in her past, and, even then that didn't last long. She didn't see the point in being physical with someone that she didn't love; as far as she was concerned, there was no enjoyment if you didn't truly feel strongly about the other person.

So what did that mean when she agreed to jump in bed with her rival? Was that what it was? She and Zeref were competing against each other since day one at university, and neither of them planned on ever seeing each other again after graduation...It was only by chance that he showed up at the party, same with her. She almost didn't go, but her roommate didn't want to be alone. She had gotten a little drunk, probably had some sort of illegal substance running in her veins after an hour or two, and having sex to see who was better just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

She bit her lip. Her dreaming about him was only a fluke, something that happened because she started thinking about him again after meeting the other Dragneel on the train. She'd never see either of them again, so there weren't going to be any more dreams, right? It made perfect sense.

"Tell you what, Loke," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and turning fully towards her guest. "If I have two more dreams about him, then obviously something is going on in my subconscious that needs to be addressed. If that happens, I will gladly tell you about him, okay?"

A wide grin spread across his face. "Sounds like a deal, Princess." He placed two fingers on his forehead in a salute, and turned to leave. "Oh, your mom wants to see you before you meet with your dad. She'll be in her room."

"Okay, thank you, Loke." She waited until she heard her door closing before getting undressed. Today didn't seem like it was going to be a good one, so she just had to get through it by biting her cheek and dealing with it.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for the reviews/follows/faves. They keep me motivated to want to write more. Now, this chapter looks more at Lucy and Zeref's relationship from his point of view. I realized that I seem to be following the two of them more than Natsu and Lisanna, but that'll change. There's more of the two of them later on. More naughty words in this chapter. I don't know why, but I feel like, in the real world, Zeref would be a swearer. *shrug* Please enjoy!**

~.~

Natsu took a deep breath as the pair of them stopped at a large, golden, intricately decorated gate. He wiped the sweat off his brow as his brother wheezed, bending over and placing his hands on his knees. The pink haired man looked down at him and chuckled.

"You've been studying too hard, brother. You're out of shape."

Zeref glared up at his brother. "Well...I'm sorry...I have...been too busy…"

Zeref's panting caused Natsu to laugh harder. The raven haired man stretched his arms over his head. "So, what's this place you wanted to show me?" He dropped his arms and set his hands on his hips, studying the fancy 'H'.

"This is where my boss lives," he muttered. "Have you ever seen anything so fancy?" And it's also where Lucy lives, but he wasn't going to voice that out loud. He wasn't even sure he made that thought, it just appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm not sure, all I can see is the gate." There were so many trees lining the road the made its way through the gate, they must have wanted more privacy than some celebrity. "They aren't famous, are they?"

"Not really, I don't think so. Just super rich, I guess." Natsu rolled his neck. "You ready to head back?" He missed his brother when the man went off to college. Natsu woke up extra early this morning with the excitement of getting a morning run in with Zeref, just like old times. Unfortunately, Zeref seemed to be a little out of shape, his stamina having receded in the last five years. Back in high school the other man could run circles around Natsu, but now it was the other way around.

Zeref sighed as he plopped onto the ground. "I need a rest, first."

"A rest? We've only gone about five miles." He laughed at his older brother as a black limo pulled up. He crossed his arms over his chest as the car inched towards the gate. He whistled. "Can you imagine riding in one of those?"

"Riding in the limo really is no big deal," Zeref muttered.

"Okay, Mr. Popular, how many have you ridden in?" Natsu chuckled when he watched his brother blush slightly and look away. "That's what I thought." He ran his hands through his sweaty pink locks, and he watched as the gate opened and the limo slowly drove forward. He watched as a face appeared in the back window, watching them as the car passed, the person inside giving them a sour expression. He would expect that sort of reaction, seeing as how he knew how rich people acted when faced with not as fortunate people. They liked to rub their success in others' faces, but he didn't let it bother him. The way he saw it, he had the job he's dreamed of, he has a wife, his own home...he was rich in his own way.

Zeref stood up, having seen the sour face behind the tinted window, and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let's head back before Lisanna starts to worry."

As the pair started making their way back to town, Zeref wondered briefly who lived beyond that H. Before, names didn't really matter to him.

When his brother said he was transferring to some small town that no one heard of to work as the fire chief, he was just happy that his brother was advancing as quickly as he was. A month ago, Natsu had called Zeref and and admitted to being nervous about the move, not sure if he could go through with it. Zeref, being the good brother - and not wanting to hear the other man whine - said he'd go with him and help with the transition. He had a couple months to himself before starting his new job at a research facility, and he had originally planned on taking a trip to some underdeveloped country, but his brother was family, and family came first. He didn't know when he'd be able to take that trip now, but it was worth it to see Natsu smile.

~.~  
"There you guys are. I was beginning to worry that you might have gotten lost." Lisanna was in the middle of setting up the table with what few utensils and dishes she had been able to unpack.

Natsu immediately made his way to his wife and the breakfast she had laid out for them.

"Not hardly," he said, kissing her on the cheek. "We barely made it out of the driveway before Zeref started whining to come back inside." He laughed as his brother punched his arm, not holding back in the least. Natsu hissed, rubbing the area that was sure to be bruised, before rounding on the other man, intent on paying him back, but he was stopped by a small hand on his fist. He blinked down at his wife, who was glaring up at him.

"Please, don't fight, Natsu."

Natsu lowered his fist, but pointed an accusing finger at the other man. "B-but he started it!"

"Come on, Natsu, stop acting like you're five." Zeref chuckled, waving as he made his way out of the kitchen. "I'm taking a shower first."

In truth, he wanted to give the two lovebirds a little privacy. He did feel a little bad that they had to hold back in their first night in their new home. If he had a wife, he'd have christened the hell out of their new home whether they had company or not. Then again, Zeref wasn't really the marrying type, so he couldn't say what he would or wouldn't do with actual certainty.

Honestly, he's never even had any romantic thoughts about any girl in his twenty-five years. Back in high school, he did go through a period of panic, wondering if he - how should he put it - pitched for the other team. Honestly, when he really sat and thought about it, he found the male species just as revolting as the females. He had better things to do with his life, he wanted to do something meaningful. Getting married, having kids, working in a dead end predictable job wasn't for him.

It was why he focused so hard in his studies, so he wouldn't be forced to settle for less. He had big expectations for his life. He graduated top of his high school class, with honors, though he went to a public school, so his accomplishments weren't as noteworthy as someone who graduated from a private school, but he was just as smart as that asshole from that private school. Hell, when he got into the top university, it was a breeze for him to rise up to the top.

Okay, well, it was a breeze getting there, but staying there was a challenge. The first year of college he couldn't believe he was equally matched with a blonde bimbo, some rich girl who only got into that university because her parents could afford to put her there. He was sure they made a generous donation, one so big that the administration couldn't refuse her. If she had gotten there with her own knowledge, maybe he wouldn't have been so hard on her, but it pissed him off to know that he worked his ass off to get where he was, and she didn't have to lift a fucking finger.

They barely said two words to each other for the first couple of years, even though they seemed to have run into each other so often. It wasn't until their third year that they actually had a meaningful conversation with each other. They didn't share anything about their pasts, but they did share their futures, and they promised to work as hard as they could to see who could get the top spot. They were partnered together for a project in one of their literature classes, and he had to admire that she wasn't as empty-headed as he originally thought.

He still despised her for being able to breeze through life on the coattails of her rich parents. He had asked her what school she went to - she was home schooled...of course she was. He asked what her scores were for the entrance exam - she didn't take the exam...of course she fucking didn't. He learned that the headmaster was a personal friend of her father's, and he had rolled his eyes...of course he fucking was!

After learning that bit of information, he had let a bit of his thoughts slip when he hadn't meant to. He had said something about it being a relief that it was her father sucking the cock of the headmaster instead of her. He didn't know what the big deal was - everyone was thinking it, and she didn't exactly help the matter with the way she dressed - but she had slapped him and dropped trash on his head, called him a pig, and walked out on him. This all happened in the middle of class, so, naturally they both got red marks for the day - not like it actually affected their final scores any - and that was the start of their war. Every chance they got, they'd throw some sort of insult to each other, and openly compete against each other. Before, it was a discreet rivalry, but after that, everyone in the school knew about them.

Zeref smirked as he shampooed his hair. Honestly, he never believed he'd actually have fun in college, and she made it worthwhile for him. He was more than royally pissed when the final standings were released, and his name was under hers. Not only was she number one, but she was also valedictorian. Naturally, she threw it in his face, and it was the first time since he first saw her that he felt murderous towards her.

During their graduation ceremony, he couldn't concentrate on the many speeches. Instead, he'd glared at her the whole time, imagining many different scenarios in which the end result left her body bloody and unrecognizable. There was one moment when her eyes caught his, and he could tell she was thinking the same, and he even shivered when she smiled and cutely waved at him.

That night, his friend had dragged him to a stupid college party, one last celebration of finally finishing their hellish career at college. Zeref didn't see the point in celebrating, though. Now that they were done they were finally able to be admitted into the real world, and, frankly, he doubted more than half of the partygoers would be able to last two months on their own.

He spent most of the night, scowling on a couch, sipping his beer - god awful stuff that tasted like vomit mixed in sour water - but then he noticed her. His scowl didn't let up when he saw _her_ partaking in a drinking game, laughing, having fun. A man sitting next to her - more like clamboring over her, both arms wrapped around her shoulders and he kept touching her provocatively throughout the whole night - slipped something into her drink just as she was about to take a sip.

Sure, he hated the woman, and he had imagined her death many, many glorious hours, but he couldn't stand by and watch as she was drugged, and then possibly raped, ruining her entire life. It was the noble Dragneel trait rearing its ugly head, and he felt compelled to save her from the meathead. Somehow, Zeref had managed to make his way to the table, placing his hand over her cup before she could drink it. Everyone looked up at him, though only one pair of brown eyes were curious why he was there. The group was all drunk, and they figured he was just there to join them - assumed, since, after he took the girl's drink from her, her friend handed her another one saying she was so happy that her new friend could join in the fun. Naturally, he had no intention of joining in. Instead, he poured the offending liquid on the man's head - causing everyone to burst out laughing - and he grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her away from them.

She was angry, to say the least, but he ignored her protesting, her weak attempts at hitting him, and pulled her out of the house, into the cool night air. As soon as they were outside, she seemed to immediately sober. She had thanked him for saving her. Apparently she knew everything that was going on, and that wasn't the first time that night someone had tried to drug her. It was the first time she failed to notice, and she was actually grateful to him for pulling her out of there.

He was about to leave her alone, wanting nothing more than to go back to his own dorm and sleep, when she invited him to her place. She said she figured, since it was their last night, that the two most dominant students should have a private toast to say farewell to all the idiots that were below them. It was almost like she was speaking from his own mind, and he agreed, but only for one drink.

Well, that one drink turned into five shots of something incredibly strong, and they started comparing their accomplishments, trying to one-up each other in everything. It wasn't until she said that her ex told her she gave the best "oral" administrations, and he had to disagree. In his years at college, he had grown to realize that he wasn't immune to hormones like he originally believed, so he had been with a few women, and their accounts on his skills begged to differ from hers.

That was how they ended up spending the night together. He had come out the winner, but something happened to him while they were together, and he didn't find her as revolting as he used to. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but, as he was leaving, he actually had to fight himself to not go back to her. That night was the first time he had actually enjoyed being in her company, the first time he actually enjoyed having sex - before it was more like a nuisance that had to be dealt with - and it was the first time he smiled in nearly five years. The only time he smiled was in his brother's presence - still, those moments were few and far between - and it shocked him later that he had actually smiled to the one woman whom he hated more than anything.

He regretted leaving her, but it was for the best. He ended up moving on with his life, and he actually hadn't really thought about her, seriously, since he walked out of her dorm that night. As he shut off the water in the shower, he was left baffled. He was starting to feel that unfamiliar feeling of regret, though he reasoned there was nothing he could do now. She was off doing whatever it was that she was doing, and he was in some nowhere town, where he would stay for a month before heading back home. He'll relax at home for another two months, and then he'd start his job. He would end up forgetting about her wholly after a while, and she'd just be that one girl that he used to know, who actually helped him get through schooling.

As he wrapped his towel around his waist, he caught a quick glimpse of himself in the mirror, and he couldn't stop himself from wondering what she was doing at that moment. Was she remembering him at all, like was he thinking of her now? The thought was fleeting, and he walked out of the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.

~.~  
 **AN: Also, as a side note, in case anyone was wondering...I've been having a little issue with ages. I know that Zeref is the oldest, then Natsu, and then Lucy and Lisanna, but, for the sake of this story...I think I have Natsu and Zeref really close in age, probably twins - though to tell them apart Natsu has his wonderful hair - and Lucy and Lisanna are the same age. I think that's all I have to say for now. So, until next time my lovelies. I hope you liked this one. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

"Momma?"

"Lucy! You're back!"

"AH! Don't get up!" Lucy ran to her mother before the woman could get out of bed.

"I'm fine, don't fret over me." She said this, but she allowed her daughter to push her back down on the mattress. "I'm so glad to see you up and about already. We thought you'd be out at least until noon."

Lucy chuckled breathily, but had no answer. She didn't want to tell her mother that she been woken because of a dirty dream, nor did she want to tell her mother about her plans for the day. Layla's health was already fragile, but the woman didn't need the stress of knowing what Lucy was planning.

"So, how was the ceremony?" her mother asked, patting the bed next to her. Lucy crawled in under the blankets.

"It wasn't anything spectacular." She laid her head on the pillow and leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. "Trust me, you would have been bored to tears."

"Oh I think not. How could I be bored knowing my daughter graduated first in her class, with honors, and was the valedictorian? I'm so proud of you, honey."

"Thanks, Mom. Dad didn't mention anything about me, did he?" She had been fretting over if he really was going to sit back peacefully while she broke the engagement and left home the next morning.

"Oh, yes. Don't worry, he's proud of you, too."

Lucy's eyes squinted for a moment. "No, Momma, did he say anything about our deal?"

Layla was quiet for a moment while she rubbed circles on her daughter's back. The extended silence was causing Lucy to become more anxious. She wanted this parting to be a pleasant one, and if her father couldn't keep his word, this would be anything but. She loved her mother, and she wanted nothing more than make sure her mother stayed happy, but her father is making that impossible for Lucy.

"Your father...he...he is a very determined man, Lucy."

The girl scoffed and sat up. "Why did I even think he would keep his end of the bargain? Why am I always so stupid?"

"Lucy, let me finish." Layla's tone was short and strict, causing Lucy to stare at her mother, a little nervous. When had the woman ever raised her voice to her daughter? Or anyone, for that matter? Softly, Lucy nodded. "This is the reason I wanted you to see me first. Lucy, your father has every intention of calling off the engagement. He's not happy about it, and it will hurt the company greatly, but he's going to do it. Also, he is willing to let you move out. However, we talked, and, I want you to know that this was completely my idea, but we want you to stay for at least three months."

Lucy blinked, stuttered, and shook her head. "But I've already made all my arrangements!"

"Lucy, my love…" Layla placed her hands on Lucy's cheeks, holding her gently as tears threatened to fall from the young woman's eyes. "You were born into this world. I know you hate it, I did, too. We just want you to at least try to accept this life. You may find it much more enjoyable now that you're a grown woman."

Lucy bit her lip. Her mother was her biggest supporter for going out and living her dreams - now she felt betrayed. That man put her up to this, there was no doubt. He had to have filled her head with unwanted thoughts, scaring the poor frail woman that her daughter could be leaving to her doom.

"I want you to be happy, more than anything. But I also don't want you to be alone. You never know." She shrugged, and let out a soft giggle. "You could end up with a man that you love and care for. Not all businessmen are jerks, you know."

Lucy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Maybe not to you."

"You're on the market, now, dear. They won't be to you, either." Lucy blinked as her mother grinned suggestively. The young woman blushed and pulled away slightly.

"Mom! I do not want to hear about that from you. No offense, but you're my mother."

Layla laughed out loud, and it was the most beautiful sound Lucy had ever heard. Lucy bit her lip again, and looked away. She knew that, by the end of the day, she would break her mother's heart, but she couldn't sit back and go against everything she had planned for years now, just because her mother is asking her to try and embrace this life. Hell, if this life couldn't embrace her, then why the hell should she?

Sighing, she stood up, and immediately threw her arms around her mother's neck. "I love you, Momma," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Lucy. And please, hear your father out before you decide anything." She pulled away, but kept her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "He's not a bad man, really. He's trying to do everything he can to make sure we're happy, even if he doesn't think what we really want is what's best."

Lucy smiled, but in her head, she was refusing what her mother was asking. Lucy stood up, walked out of the room, muttering a soft goodbye to her mother, and closed the door. As she walked down the hall towards her father's study, she clenched her fists.

"I'm not going to roll over and die just because he thinks it's what's best for me."

~.~

"So, Jude, you really must up your security." The burly old man swirled his brandy before taking a sip.

The younger blonde man raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, while we were pulling up, my son noticed two strange men standing in front of your gate."

Jude turned his gaze towards the boy who sat next to his father. The young man was slouching in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes were closed. Jude had thought he had been sleeping, but when the young man nodded, he was surprised.

"There were two of them, one with pink hair. Now, what sort of man could walk around with _pink_ hair? How undignified." The older man scoffed before placing his cigar in his mouth.

Jude smiled and sighed before taking a sip of his own drink. "Pink hair? That sounds like my new fire chief. I assure you, gentlemen, there's nothing to be suspicious about."

The younger man opened his eyes, slightly, as he glared at Jude. He didn't like the way the one sitting on the ground had looked at him. Then there was the one with the hair. Really? The hair color was so ridiculous it barely deserved more than a single glance. And then Jude Heartfilia dares to sit there and say that man was the new fire chief? How unprofessional.

"Jude, you've been my friend for many, many years," the older man said, leaning forward. "So I feel like it's my job to let you know that you're making a mistake hiring someone so wild."

Jude leaned forward as well. "Trust me, Zero, his hair isn't what makes him the best damn firefighter in Fiore. If anything I feel lucky to have been able to snatch him before someone else did." Jude returned to his lazy position, and glanced at the young man again. It had to come out sometime, and it would be best to just let it out now and get it over with.

"Gentlemen, I actually want to get to the reason why I called you here."

His guests looked at him expectantly. He placed his elbows on his knees and patted his fingers together, trying to find the best way to give them the news. They were going to be pissed, anyway, so did the presentation really matter all that much?

"Uh, Master Heartfilia?"

The three men looked at the timid maid who had just walked into the study. Normally, Jude would reprimand the girl, but he was actually glad she had showed up when she did.

"Yes, Aries?"

The girl had her hands behind her back, and she was fiddling with the hem of her skirt, growing increasingly nervous with the three pairs of eyes on her.

"Uh, the miss is here," she whispered, her cheeks flushing brightly as her body grew hot. "She wanted to talk to you before…" She glanced at her employer's guests. She dared not repeat Miss Lucy word for word, but she also didn't know of a polite way to have him follow her before he gave them the bad news. "Before...uh….before…"

Jude stood up. "Of course. Let her know I'll be right out."

The maid bowed and immediately left the room. The blonde man turned to his guests and bowed his head slightly before excusing himself. He gently shut the doors behind him, and came face to face with his daughter, looking absolutely livid.

"What the hell?" she growled.

"Excuse me?" Jude asked, flabbergasted that she would use such language with him.

"They're here already? Did you even plan on telling me? Or did you think that, by having this meeting before I even woke up, you'd be able to let them go without telling them that I-"

"Not at all, darling." Jude cut her off. She was speaking a little too loudly, and he didn't want his guests to overhear them. He glanced around and noticed the dining room door opened. He wanted to have this conversation in private, but he couldn't leave the other men alone for too long. He reached out to grab Lucy's arm, but she wrenched it out of his grasp. "Lucy, I would like to have this conversation more privately, please." His voice was low and demanding, leaving no room for argument. She knew that tone, and obliged him, allowing him to take hold of her arm and lead her to the dining room. As soon as they were there, he let her go and closed the door.

"I can't believe what you did to Mom!" she burst out.

"What are you talking about?" Jude blinked as his daughter crossed her arms over her chest.

"She was the one who was encouraging me to go out into the world. Now, all of a sudden, she wants me to stay and get married!"

Jude held up his hand. "That was entirely your mother's thinking, not mine."

"I call bullshit."

"Do _not_ talk like that in front of me, young lady!" Jude slapped his hand on the table, causing the wooden structure to groan and shake from the pressure. "You may think you're a mature adult now, but you still know nothing about being grown-up, especially when you use language like that!"

Lucy jumped and dropped her arms, years and years of following her father's orders coming back to her. She suddenly felt like the little girl who tried to remind her dad that it was her birthday, but he responded by banging his hand on his desk and yelling at her. She hated how he could so easily demean her and make her feel like a child. It was why she wanted out.

"I can't believe you're going against our deal," she muttered, looking away from him.

He sighed, placing his fingers to his temple. He really didn't have the energy to deal with her at that moment. "I'm not breaking it off, per se. I'm extending it."

"That's not fair!" she shrieked again, but closed her mouth as he glared at her.

"I'm going to start by telling you that it's not for you, that I'm doing this. Nor is it for me. It's for your mother." He said that last statement so quietly she almost didn't hear it.

"I still don't understand," she grumbled. "Before I left to finish school, she told me to do my best so I can live my life the way I wanted to. What changed while I was gone?"

Jude sighed, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from years and years of working hard and trying to stay strong. He looked away from his daughter, unable to look at his wife's clone as he gave her the news.

"Your mother...doesn't have much longer."

Lucy's face fell. She knew her mother's health was bad, and that she was going to pass away early, but she never imagined it would come so soon. She felt her knees give out, and she collapsed onto one of the chairs.

"The doctor said she had at least until winter. One more outbreak of the cold, and that could be her last."

Lucy shook her head. She was just in to see her mother, and, granted she didn't look better than when she had seen the woman last, but she didn't look that bad, either.

"My extension is a plea for you to stay home and be with her. You don't want to be out in god knows where when she closes her eyes for the final time. You would hate yourself, and it would make your mother sad that you aren't there with her."

Lucy sighed and placed her forehead on her arms, which were lying on the table. She didn't want to hear anymore of this. She came to discuss their deal, and that was what they were going to discuss.

"What is this extension?" she asked quietly.

Jude glared down at his daughter, wanting to berate her for speaking with her head down, her words muffled, almost unclear, and her back slouched. However, he allowed her this moment of grief.

"I will cut off the engagement to Macbeth."

She lifted her head and stared at him with wide, tear filled eyes.

"However, this matter of marriage won't go away. We ask that you stay for at least another three months. In that time, you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, with whomever you want. My only condition is that you go out on a date at least once a week with a man that your mother and I choose for you."

Lucy opened her mouth to argue, but Jude cut her off, holding his hand up to her.

"You can refuse to see those men again, and I will be the one to decline any offers. You don't have to worry about a thing, I will take care of it all. In the off chance that you happen to like one of the suitors, I want you to not hold back. Let me know and I will arrange another meeting. This is a serious affair, and I want you to take this seriously. If you do not find a man to your liking when the summer is up, I will allow you to leave and go do whatever you want."

Lucy hated how he said " _allow to leave_ " like he actually had any control over her actions. She was twenty-five now, she didn't have to let him lead her around by the nose anymore. His plan was absolutely ridiculous and demeaning to, not only herself, but these men that he would set her up with. He would be the one to decline to see them again? She was a grown ass woman, and she could very well dump the men herself.

However, she had to put her pride aside for now. Her mother wanted this for her. She wanted her to be happy with a husband. She wanted to know that Lucy would be well taken care of when she passed.

With a heavy sigh, Lucy pushed herself off her chair, and held out her hand to her father. He blinked up at her, waiting for an explanation before taking it.

"I'll do it, but not for you."

Jude licked his lips. He knew their relationship was rocky, and that she loved and cared for her mother much more so than himself, but that was his own fault, and he wasn't really regretful either. He took her hand and shook it, sealing the deal.

"Very good, then." He retracted his hand and didn't fail to notice how she rubbed her palm on her skirt. "I will set up a date for you on Friday, giving you a few days to settle in. I'm going to go break the news to Macbeth and his father, and explain why you're not marrying him anymore."

He turned without another word, but stopped when she called out to him.

"Be sure not to break his heart too much. Macbeth is a sensitive boy."

He turned towards her and smirked. "I worry about your choice of friends, Lucy. I fear you're spending way too much time with Loke."

The girl shrugged. "Well, I was planning on moving in with my friends from school, but since that isn't happening it looks like I'll end up spending even more time with Loke."

Her father pointed at her. "Watch your smart mouth, young lady. You may have graduated college, but you're still my daughter, and I will still punish you as I see fit."

Lucy bit her lip and let him walk back into his study. She sniffed before heading up to her room to unpack. _What an asshole_ , she grumbled to herself.

~.~

 **AN: Thank you for the fave/follow/reviews. Here's another chapter. Yes, yes, her mother is still alive! Albeit still sickly, but that's nice, isn't it** **? Let me know what you guys think! :) Fave/follow/review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Natsu inwardly groaned as he slouched in his seat, a mug of beer wrapped tightly in his hands. When Zeref suggested going out to the local bar, he thought it was a good idea...until he realized how many young blondes there were in this town. How was that even possible? Every five minutes he'd see a woman with blonde hair and become excited thinking it was Lucy. Then the girl would show him her face, and he'd realize that it wasn't her, and then he'd reprimand himself for becoming excited in the first place.

What was he expecting to happen if he saw her? That she'd recognize him and come over and hang out? That they'd become friends? Get real, Natsu. You're married. You need to stay away from girls like that. Besides, she was probably up at her mansion, relaxing like only rich people knew how, having completely forgotten about him. What could she possibly want to do in a scroungy bar like this anyway?

Zeref nudged his brother. "What's wrong with you? I took you out so you could relax after a full day of unpacking."

"I appreciate you taking me out, Zeref, but I don't think sitting here at a bar is fun anymore." He sighed, pushing himself off the stool. "Thanks, bro, but I think I should be at home with Lisanna right now."

"Natsu, she's the one who wanted you to come out with me." Zeref grabbed Natsu's arm before he could go very far. "You've been stressing about this move for months, now. Relax and enjoy a fucking beer, you moron. This may be the last time you get to."

The younger man pocketed his hands and shrugged. "I just don't see the point. What have we been doing for the last hour? The same thing we're going to do for another hour or two: sit at a bar and drink beer while we stare at the wall." He glanced around the room again as the door opened. He caught himself looking for her again, and he inwardly kicked himself. "I just want to go home and spend the night with Lis."

"Lis doesn't want to spend the night with you." Zeref stood up and placed his hands on his brother's shoulders. "She wants you to hang out with your brother, get drunk, play some pool, dance with some very attractive women, and then go home and fuck her brains out."

Natsu flushed as his brother's words, pushing him away. He sat down, and awkwardly played with the handle of his beer. "Shut up, Zeref. You're not supposed to talk about my relationship with my wife like that."

Zeref leaned his elbow on the bar. "Why not? It's the truth."

"Because she's my wife, you're my brother. It's a little weird, ya know?"

The older man leaned down closer to his embarrassed brother. "It's. The. Truth. Ya. Pansy!"

Natsu glared at the offending man, way too close in his bubble for comfort. "Stop being so straightforward."

Zeref laughed and sat back on his stool. "I don't know how." He emptied his mug and ordered another. Glancing around at the gloomy setting, Zeref couldn't understand how they would have fun in a place like this. It was the picturesque local bar of a small town; hard looking men coming to relax after a long day at work, pretty woman coming to help them relax, and some sort of rock ballad playing on the jukebox.

The bartender - unsurprisingly enough, a young woman with purple hair cut in a sort of pixie fashion - brought his new beer, and nodded to Natsu.

"You already have enough, pinkie?" she asked, causing Zeref to smirk as Natsu blushed.

He shook his head and took a gulp. "Apparently I'm just getting started."

The girl blinked at him for a second before leaning against the countertop, pointing at him. "You're the new fire chief, aren't you?"

Natsu blinked. "Uh, yes I am."

The girl smiled and stood upright, holding out a hand to him. "Nice to meet you, Chief! My name is Kinana! I own this bar."

"My name is Natsu. This is my brother, Zeref."

Zeref took the woman's hand and nodded his greeting. The woman threw her arm in the air waved ecstatically.

"Erik! Come meet our new fire chief!" she yelled. Naturally, everyone in the bar turned their attention towards her and the two new men. Everyone was curious what the new chief of their fire department was like, so not just the one man who she called over, joined them.

Zeref immediately became overcrowded, but he could tell Natsu was loving it. He was only able to sit still in the middle of the crowd for so long. He didn't care that Erik owned the animal control station, or that his nickname was Cobra because he once used to have a pet cobra that escaped from a nearby zoo. He didn't care that the woman with the long purple hair was Laki, and she worked in the forestry department. He didn't care that Macao also worked for the fire department, but wasn't upset in the least that he was overlooked for the chief position - in fact, he had been asked, but he declined.

He didn't care. This wasn't his town, these weren't his people. He stood up from his seat, motioned to Natsu that we was going outside for a breather, and left. He had to dodge a group of girls entering the bar, but he was finally able to get out of the stuffy building, and enjoy the cool summer air. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and immediately proceeded to place one in his mouth and light it, taking a long drag.

Natsu and Lis really frowned upon him smoking, both saying that it was dangerous to both his health and the environment around him, so he never smoked in their presence. It was just smart enough to avoid the fight. They weren't stupid - they knew he still smoked, but they also weren't stupid enough to confront him about it.

He sighed and leaned against the building. He was glad that the town was so quick to accept Natsu, not like he wasn't an easy person to like in the first place. After that expression from that person in the limo earlier that morning, he was a little worried for his easygoing brother, but he was relieved. The town itself was full of hardworking average joes and they were accepting him into their lives. Maybe he didn't need Zeref as much as he thought? Maybe Zeref could get away with staying long enough to help unpack and do little minor house repairs, and then he'd be able to get the hell out of dodge in time to go to that country he wanted to visit in the first place.

"Have you been following me?"

Zeref jumped and looked around, but didn't see anyone around. He was about to shrug it off, thinking he imagined the voice. It was quiet, anyway, and muffled, so he was either hearing things, or it came from around the corner.

He heard a muffled man's voice, but he didn't strain too hard to hear what it was he was saying. The two people talking didn't seem to enjoy each other's company, and he really didn't want to get in the middle of whatever sort of lover's quarrel that was happening. He dropped the cigarette butt to the ground and stomped it out. He turned, planning on going back inside when the sound of a woman's scream stopped him.

"Let go of me, you fucking gothic piece of shit."

A slap was heard, and the girl whimpered. Zeref growled quietly to himself, really not wanting to get involved. As his imagination showed him a picture of some helpless girl getting overpowered by some stalker, that damn Dragneel trait reared its ugly, unwanted head, and he found himself marching towards the pair.

He clenched his fists as he rounded the corner just in time to see a man pull a woman into the alley behind the bar. He bit his lip as he followed them, cursing his father for being so goddamned noble. He turned into the alley, just in time to see the man shove the woman against the wall, earning a painful grunt from her.

"Why did you break it off?" the man hissed, pressing his body against hers. "You know how much this union would mean to the company, how much _money_ we could have had. Are you just stupid, or something?" He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.

"The reason had nothing to do with the _company_ ," the woman grunted, grabbing at his arms. "You're a fucking psycho, and I wouldn't be caught dead at your side." This earned her another slap, and he pushed against her again.

"I'll make you regret saying that, you little spoiled rich bitch." He let go of her hair to grab her hands and held them above her head. She took the freedom of her head as an opportunity to spit in his face and knee him in the crotch.

He stumbled back a few feet, but recovered quickly, wiping his face. Zeref gritted his teeth as the man grabbed the woman and backhanded her face, sending her flying to the ground. Without a single word, Zeref marched up to the man, and wrapped his arms around the man's torso. He picked the man up and threw him against the wall as hard as he could. The man grunted, swearing in surprise, but wasn't allowed to recover as Zeref threw a punch at the man's face. He followed with a swift kick to the stomach, and, as the man doubled over, exposing his head, Zeref ended with another hard kick to the man's temple.

The man fell in a heap of motionless limbs. Zeref wiped the back of his hand against his mouth, hating how just that small amount of exertion caused him to become slightly out of breath, and he turned back towards the street, not wanting to get caught up in any gratitude the woman would want to give him. He found gushing absolutely annoying, and he didn't want to be any part of it.

"Hey!" she called after him, just like he knew she would. He debated whether he should stop, but decided against it. He might get lucky tonight if he stayed, but he was suddenly drained of energy. He could hear the woman running after him, and he really wished she wouldn't.

"You saved me, and you're not even going to let me thank you?" she asked, grabbing his arm. He stopped, licked his lips, and slowly turned to her. If she wanted to gush on him, he didn't have the energy to deny her. However, when he turned around, he immediately wished he hadn't, and he could tell she felt the same.

"What the fuck?" they both whispered at the same time.

Lucy ran her fingers through her hair before backing up away from him, suddenly mortified that _he_ , of all people, was the one who found her in that predicament. Zeref chewed on the inside of his cheek as he watched her, the woman who he hated most of all.

The most important question running through both their minds: _What the hell is he/she doing here?_

Zeref was the one to break the awkward silence. "It's _great_ to see you again, Heartfilia." He laced his statement with so much sarcasm, making the point that he would actually run through a field of barbed wire and take a salted lemon juice bath than see her again.

She shook her head and pressed her palms against her eyes. "Shit," she muttered, repeating the phrase over and over again. Zeref blinked at her, wondering if he was free to go, but she collapsed to her knees, and he had a moment of concern. "You're not supposed to be here," she said, and his concern was gone.

"Well, then, let me remedy that leaving." He turned, but he was stopped by her rambling.

"I did everything I was supposed to," she croaked. "Why is nothing turning out the way it was planned?"

He crossed his arms. "Life isn't fair, Heartfilia. You know that, in fact you frequently saw to it."

She looked up at him, and he was surprised to tears in her eyes, which were steadily growing redder and puffier by the second.

"What the hell are you doing in my town?" she whispered.

He wanted to laugh. " _Your_ town?" He shook his head and glared at the unconscious man a few feet away. "Shit, I knew you were conceited, by I didn't know it went this far." He jerked his chin towards the man. "What are you going to do about him, then?"

She snapped her head to where he motioned, and a quiet chuckle found its way to the back of her throat. "He can lay there and die for all I care."

He furrowed his eyebrows and knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?"

She slowly turned back to him. "I was going to get myself a drink, I've had a pretty shitty day."

He glanced behind him, remembering how quickly the bar turned from gloomy to lively in just under ten minutes, and decided that wasn't the sort of place she needed right then. An idea popped into his mind, and he grabbed her hands, pulling her up in a standing position. Without speaking a word, she let him lead her out of the alley, but, instead of heading towards the front door of the bar, Zeref pulled her in the opposite direction.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"You don't want to go there, trust me."

"But Cubelios is the only bar in town. I said I wanted a drink. That means I want to go to the bar."

Zeref growled and finally turned back to her. "Can you please just shut the hell up for a second?"

She widened her eyes at him, puffed out her cheeks, but crossed her arms over her chest and nodded.

"Good." Before he turned back around, his gaze fell on her lips. He sighed as he gently placed his thumb over her bottom lip, pulling at it slightly.

The action caused images of their last night together to flash through her mind, and she blushed redder than a tomato. She swatted his hand off her face.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. "What do you mean? I told you, I had a shitty day, so I must feel like shit, right?"

He reached his hands up and gently placed them on her jaw, lifting her head slightly to inspect any damage on her face or neck, and bit back the retort he really wanted to say.

"Well, you did just take a few good blows back there. Nothing's sore? You don't feel your movements hindered at all?"

She shook her head, unable to speak. Well, yeah, she was starting to feel the after affects of what her crazy ex-fiance had done to her, but nothing serious or long-term. She licked her lips, cringing at tasting blood, and stepped away from his grasp.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine." She rubbed her arms for a second, trying to calm down the goosebumps that had risen at his touch. She gulped as her stomach flipped when he tilted his head at her. She lifted her hand and waved him. "I'm fine, so lead on. Take me to where you think I can get a better drink than Cubelios."

He smirked, and resumed his trek to the convenience store, where he bought alcohol, bandages, and some food. Lucy waited outside the store, not wanting to alert anyone who might know her. She didn't exactly leave her home with permission, and she had no intention of returning just yet. He only kept her waiting for five minutes.

"Come on. I saw a park just a couple blocks from here."

She followed without question, starting to feel the abuse she just went through as she continued to walk on. She refused to let him know, though. She was still embarrassed that he caught her in that sort of situation, and she couldn't afford to let him know that it affected her more than she let on. She was still confused why he was there, in her town.

"Why are you here?" she asked him, breaking the silence.

He glanced at her, then shrugged. "Helping my brother."

She faltered in her step, but regained her pace. His brother...Natsu. "I didn't know you had a brother." She clenched her jaw and she awkwardly glanced away from him.

"I didn't know you were engaged to an abusive douche bag." He glanced at her hands that were still rubbing her arms. "Though I can see why he gave you such a huge rock. Where is it, by the way?"

She gulped. In no way was she going to tell him that his brother has it, if he even still has it. Honestly, she didn't care what happened to it, as long as she wasn't the one who had it.

"I lost it," she replied simply.

"That's amazing. That thing was so big I'd figure simply losing it would be impossible."

Even purposely losing it was deemed impossible, but she didn't say that either. She felt him gently nudge her arm as they approached the park. The buildings across the street cleared the way for a large grassy field, and they immediately crossed the street.

Zeref led her along the pathway, beelining through the trees and bushes, and open grassy areas. They walked until they came upon a bench, under a streetlight, that sat facing a jungle gym. He sat down and patted the wood next to him. Lucy uneasily sat next to him, and watched as he set the bag down on the bench on the opposite side of him. He rummaged through the contents, and produced the bandages, gauze, and ointment.

Lucy shook her head. "I'm not that injured. Just a cut lip is all."

The man next to her raised his eyes at her, but continued to open the box of bandages. "Good thing you haven't seen a mirror yet."

She gently placed a hand on her cut on her lip, and watched as he slowly smirked.

"Though I don't think you'd notice anything different from how you looked before."

She swatted at him as he laughed. He pulled her hands away from her face and started wiping at the various little cuts on her cheeks. He was surprised she could keep such a straight face as he purposely put pressure on the tender area that was sure to turn into a swollen bruise by morning. He slowly worked, wiping from top to bottom of her cheek. After a few minutes, he was finally rewarded by her flinching.

"Will you stop doing that?" she grumbled as he chuckled. "I think you've cleaned it enough."

"I know." He set the gauze down and started with the ointment and bandages. "I just wanted you to stop acting so damn tough."

She blinked at him, but he wasn't looking at her. His attention was on unwrapping the bandages and squirting ointment on the cotton middle. Seeming satisfied with the first bandage, he glanced up at her.

"Hold still," he muttered. He brought his face closer to hers, concentrating on placing the bandage perfectly, managing to cover the most scratches, but still kept the bandage towards the side so it wasn't the main focus of her face.

Lucy could feel her heart pounding by the closeness of him. She didn't even think his face was that close when they were having sex - she blushed as she started remembering again - and now she could smell him, and it wasn't unpleasant. He smelled of cigarettes, which was the strongest scent, but just beneath she could barely make out the musk of his cologne or aftershave, and some sort of floral fragrance that didn't match his personality at all.

She couldn't stop herself from giggling, and he flinched back, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"What?" he growled.

Lucy shook her head. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"You're weird." He looked away as he fiddled with the second bandage, going through the same actions as with the first one. The second time he was close to her face, though, she managed to stay calm. His eyes glanced at hers for a split second before going back to his hands.

"So...shitty day, huh?" He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to talk to her. He knew he shouldn't. She was a woman, he could admit that much, and, being a woman, she liked to talk. The more he allowed her to talk, the more she'd probably expect him to respond, and then she'd start wanting more from him than he was willing to give. Granted, this was Lucy Heartfilia, and they both hated each other's guts, so wanting a closer relationship wasn't likely, but he still feared it. Again, she was a woman.

She scoffed. "Understatement of the day," she said, pulling away from him as he finished with the bandage.

He suddenly realized that he missed her closeness, but he'd never openly admit it. He crossed his arms over his chest and slouched on the bench, forcing himself to deal with the sudden chill he felt when her body heat left him.

"That's funny, because you were the one who said it first." He reached into his pants pocket and produced his cigarettes. Absentmindedly he offered one to her, and, without looking at her, he knew she grabbed one. He didn't know she smoked, it was more of a habit to offer someone one if they didn't have any. He took out his lighter and lit his own death-stick before turning towards her. He felt fluttering in his stomach as she leaned down close to the flame. He watched her mouth twitch and pucker, sucking in so the cigarette caught fire.

She leaned back and blew out, outwardly relaxing. He gulped and resumed his position of slouching and facing the jungle gym.

"Do you really want to hear about it all, Zeref?" She rolled her head to look at him, but he refused to look at her.

"To be honest I don't give two fucks. But I can tell you're just dying to get it off your chest." He paused and looked at her chest, smirking. "Lord knows you got enough problems on your chest that the whole world can see. I don't think just today's issues will slim those down any."

She swatted at him again, and he laughed. "You know, I'm getting a little tired of you hitting me." He sobered. "At least tell me about abusive douche bag. After that, I won't care what you tell me."

She looked away, trying to hide a smile. Since when did he act so caring towards her? Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and let her head fall back on the bench, and she stared at the sky.

"To be honest, I didn't know he was like that. That was the first time we've been alone together for longer than five minutes."

Zeref wrinkled his nose. "How did you manage that?"

"Dragneel, that's only the stepping stone of my shitty day. Are you sure you want to hear it all?"

He took out his phone and looked at the time, then moved his head back and forth as he considered how much time before he had to be back at Natsu's home.

"Well, I go back to helping my sis unpack at about 7 in the morning, so if you can manage to at least get through half of what you have to tell me by then, I think I should be okay in the emotional baggage department to last me a lifetime."

"Why do I even bother with you?" she asked, standing up. She started to walk away without another glance at him.

"Aw, don't be like that." He stood up and hurried after her. "I'm sure whatever sob story you're going to tell me will be riveting enough to keep me interested for at least two hours!"

"Get bent, Zeref!"

He caught up to her easily, grabbing her arm. She stopped walking, not wanting to get into another fight with another man whom she didn't particularly care for. Not to mention this one was sober, and she knew for a fact that he was stronger than Macbeth…

She stopped herself and gasped lightly. Since when did she start measuring men's strengths by how much they could physically harm her? She brought her hand to her mouth in disbelief. Just one little scuffle, and now she's labelling all men to be the same. Zeref wouldn't hurt her, he never tried. Sure, they exchanged verbal blows all the time, and then there was that shared moment back at graduation where they were both imagining each other's deaths...but he wouldn't actually raise his hand against her, would he?

She slowly raised her eyes to him. "Would you ever hurt me?" she whispered.

He blinked and took a step back from her. Where had that come from? He shrugged. "I can't lie and say that I haven't imagined your death for about three years now."

She stepped up to him. "But would you hurt me?" she repeated.

No, he wouldn't actually hurt her on purpose. That damn Dragneel gene made sure of that. Like hell he was going to openly admit that, though.

"Why the hell are you asking that?"

She shrugged and looked away. "I guess I just don't know what to think about people anymore."

"Did you trust him?"

"No, he was a fucking idiot."

"Do you trust me?"

"I've felt nothing but hatred towards you since you admitted that you thought I sucked the headmaster's cock to get into school."

"And you're not even glad that I openly admitted to changing my mind?" He placed his hands on his hips, smirking triumphantly. He interrupted her before she could answer. They were getting off track. "You hate me, but do you trust me?"

She silently nodded, still unable to look at him. "This would be the second time you've saved me from some asshole."

"I'm such a dumbass. Twice? Are you fucking kidding me?" He placed his hands on his face, rubbing out the weariness he gained from that revelation. He jumped when he suddenly felt her body near, and he dropped his hands when she slowly wrapped her arms around his torso. "What are you doing?" he asked, his face steadily growing red.

She didn't answer. He felt just like Natsu. She hated how her mind kept reverting back to the pink haired man she met on the train. She hated how she was comparing Zeref to his brother, when she hardly knew the latter. For all she knew, Natsu was probably just like Zeref, but worse. She bit her lip. Was this how all the men in her life were going to be like? What about the men her father was going to set her up with? Were they all going to only want money, power, and sex?

She felt like the only men she could truly trust were her bodyguards, and they were all either too old or already taken. This is the reason she wanted to leave as soon as possible, so she didn't have deal with the after effects of all the actions that would result from her and her father's bargain. Now, it was only going to get worse for her. Instead of being thrown around by Macbeth, she'd get thrown around by at least twelve different men in her near future, because she was absolutely sure she wouldn't be able to see past the misery of marrying one of them.

Before she knew it, she had closed the distance between her and Zeref, and she had her cheek against his chest. Zeref, on the other hand, kept his arms up, unsure of what to do with them. He didn't want to lead her on, so he didn't put his arms around her, but they were getting tired from just hanging in the air. She hadn't said a word in about five minutes, now, and he was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second. Finally, unable to take it, he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away.

"Maybe it isn't wise to trust me?"

She shook her head. "No. You're the only man in my life who would tell me the truth and keep his word."

"The fuck are you talking about? I do nothing but talk down on you."

"At least you're honest about it. At least you don't sit there and pretend to like me because of my father's money, power, and the possibility that I'd give you sex if you kept agreeing with me."

"Money is useless, I don't want the stress of having power, and I've already got sex out of you, what's the point in me pretending?"

She broke out in a smile. He was genuinely amazed to see it. Had he ever seen that sort of smile from her? Normally, when she smiled around him, it was either evil, sad, or some sort of amused smirk that would show up on his behalf. This smile was one that reached her eyes, and told him that she was absolutely happy. He didn't know why she was so damn happy, but he didn't find it unpleasant either.

Again, not something he'd openly admit to her. Hell, she was pulling things out of him that he wouldn't admit to, even if he was attached to a lie detector that would shock his balls if he lied. He had too much pride for that. _Sorry boys, but if it came down to you or my admitting my feelings, I'd have to sacrifice you._

She stepped away from him, swinging her arms behind her and latching her hands together. She looked a little...cute...in that position. _Ah, fuck you, head! Stop thinking so highly of her._

"Thank you, Zeref," she said.

He blinked, being brought out of his inner argument. "For what?"

"For just being you." She shrugged.

He didn't know what to say. What the hell did that mean? He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced around them, trying to make sense of it all. She thanked him for just being him? Who the hell said shit like that?

He opened his mouth to say something, but an annoying beeping noise started to emit from his pocket. He quickly fished his phone out, and answered without looking to see who it was.

 **AN: Thanks for all the responses. :) So, Lucy and Zeref finally met, again! Now, let me be honest, I made this chapter a two parter, since if I had the whole thing together it'd be about 10k - or more - words. Well, I'm really tired, so I'm cutting this short. Please review, and, if you haven't, don't forget to fave/follow. Much love and cookies for those of you who have already. Love you guys, and I will see you in a few days for the next part!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Another NSFW alert. I don't think anything important actually happens in this chapter, it's just a continuation of last chapter. So, if you need to skip, then fine, you're not missing anything; if not...Then okay. :3 Enjoy the next chapter.**  
~.~

"Yeah?" He practically huffed into his phone, letting the other person on the line know who irritated he was with the interruption.

"Where did you go?"

Zeref jumped and looked away from the girl in front of him. "Ah, Natsu! Sorry...The crowd became too much for me to handle. Hm? Uh, I'm at the park." He glanced up, and, again, became confused with her actions. She turned from him, her eyes downcast, and a little sad. Was she upset that he answered the phone when they were talking? Typical woman. "No, you don't need to wait for me. Just make sure you leave the back door open. You didn't give me a key. I don't _want_ a key. You got a little drink in your system, yet? Good, go home and enjoy being alone with your wife, for once. Show her the man you can be! That's my boy. I'll talk to you later."

She didn't know why, but hearing his muffled voice through the little contraption against Zeref's ear made her insides grow warm. He was so close, and yet he was all the way back at the bar, and she had almost went there if Zeref hadn't stopped her. The pain and awkwardness grew to almost unbearable when Zeref mentioned Natsu's wife. Why was it that all the good men were either gay or already married?

She had already started walking away by the time Zeref hung up the phone. She shouldn't be around him, not in the state she was in. She'd end up saying something that would either trip him up to her sudden interest in his brother, and just make things worse for her. He was still the man she despised, so why was she standing there, willing to spout out her inner most secrets?

He caught up to her easily, though. "Hey, where you going?" He grabbed her hand, stopping her again.

"Home," she muttered, refusing to look at him.

"Do you want me to walk you? Where do you live?"

"I'll be fine. I'll just call someone to come get me."

"Then let me at least wait with you."

"No!" She pulled her hand out of his grip. "Why are you even still here? We hate each other, remember? Why are you so concerned about me?"

He shrugged. No way in hell was he going to tell her. "Maybe because…"

She turned back to him, expecting an answer that he wasn't willing to give.

"I don't fucking know, okay?" Yeah, tell her that. Better than telling her everything. "My life has been boring as fuck since we graduated, so I was actually enjoying teasing you a little. It made my night actually as enjoyable as I was originally hoping it to be, though I wanted to enjoy it with Natsu and some faceless girl who I won't remember in the morning, but you're okay, too."

Okay, that popped out without his consent. He hadn't even thought that, which is probably why it just shot out. He didn't have time to hide it away. Sneaky bastard.

"I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not having sex with you."

"I didn't think you were. Like I said, we already did that once, so why should we do it again?"

She widened her eyes in irritation. "Was it not enjoyable for you? Did I suck that badly?"

He couldn't stop a laugh from escaping. "Oh, you didn't suck badly, blondie, I promise you that much. Besides, I never said I didn't enjoy it. It's just that we already did it once, so how different can it be next time? Why bother?"

She stared at him. This was a _man_ that she was staring at, right? A _straight_ man...and he even said that she was good.

"Well, it's human nature to do it because it felt good. And then, because it was good, human nature states that we do it again."

He let his eyes graze her body, blatantly showing her that he was checking her out. "The laws of human nature say that we have to do it again?"

She blushed, the heat traveling through her entire body. "I didn't mean…"

He grabbed her and held her against his body. "You said 'we'." He hadn't gotten aroused just by thinking about having sex before, but he wasn't going to deny his body. If she refused him, he'd just go get someone else, no biggie. But, he'd rather his partner be her. He gently rolled his hips against hers, letting her know how hard he was. He groaned at the sound of her gasping, and her clenching his shoulders. "Same rules as last time?" he rasped.

"What? What rules? Where are you planning on this happening?"

He started pulling her off the path. "There's a bush over there. Or maybe against that tree? Or, if you're wanting to hide, we can go in that tunnel in the jungle gym."

"Oh my god, you're such a man." she giggled, but allowed him to pull her. "Doesn't care where or how, as long as he gets lucky."

"I actually never fucked outside before. Seems liberating, in a way." He bent down to lick her neck. Keeping one arm wrapped around her waist, he used the other to gently bring her head back to give him better access. He felt his arm hit the bark of a tree, and he opened his eyes long enough to decide that's where they were going to do it.

She gasped as he grabbed her hips and picked her up, wrapping her legs around him. She knew she should be angry that they were in the middle of the park, up against a tree, but anticipation caused her to care less. She could tell that he was enjoying the fact that she had worn a skirt, and he made his enjoyment clear by slowly running his hands up her thighs.

His lips, however, were slowly trailing kisses down her collarbone, and she obliged him by taking off her shirt, gently dropping it on the ground next to them. She replaced her arms around his neck, her hands playing with his hair as he ducked lower, gently nibbling at the fabric of her bra. She let her head roll back as a moan of anticipation came out, her thoughts, again, going back to that one night they shared.

At the sound of her moan, he bucked his hips, and she could feel his hardness rub against her core. She gasped and tightened her legs, pulling his lower body closer. His hands moved up to her bra strap, his mouth trailing hot kisses along the indent of the fabric as he gently pulled it over her shoulder.

She gasped again as heat was pooling in her lower regions, and she began to match him in thrusting, rubbing his excited little man against her sensitive area. He grabbed her breast with the hand that was previously playing with the strap, and the pleasurable tingles shot down to her lower stomach, and she could feel herself quickly coming undone. She took just a second to realize that he brought her to the edge quicker doing what he was doing now, than back when he was using his tongue.

Just as she was about to let go, he pulled away, and she was allowed a moment to calm down, though she hated that he stopped just before she climaxed. The anger was short lived when she realized he had actually undone his pants. He pressed against her again, but wasted no time in pushing her panties aside and sliding himself inside her. She clawed at his shoulders as her body was racked with spasms, her orgasm washing over her in a single stroke.

He lifted his head and smirked at her, allowing her a moment to calm down before he slowly started moving again.

"That has to be a personal record," he whispered, leaning back down to nibble the lobe of her ear. "I beat my own score. You better stop slacking, Heartfilia. The competition has become so boring that I'm competing against myself."

Lucy licked her bottom lip before tightening her hold on his shoulders, her fingers digging into his skin in an attempt to get him to stop talking. Not only was his talking a little irritating - bringing his victory into play - but he was pretty much stroking his own ego. She couldn't have a threesome with Zeref and his ego.

"Will you just shut up, and finish this so I can go home?"

He lifted his head to look in her eyes. "I'll do what I can," he mumbled, giving her nose a playful nudge with his own.

The gesture sent shivers down her spine, and it had nothing to do with the fact that they were screwing in the park. He had done the same thing that night, right before she thought he was going to actually kiss her.

Same rules...He hadn't kissed her, she realized, and he wasn't going to, either. There was a sense of intimacy with the act of kissing mouth to mouth, and they had wanted to avoid that the first time. It seemed like he wanted to be distant, even now. That was okay with her. Out of all the men that she's met in her life, they'd all only been in her life because they wanted something from her, and she refused to attach herself to a single one.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and flexed her hips, beginning to meet him thrust for thrust. She had told him that she wanted him to hurry, but the truth was she didn't want him to leave, not yet. She liked how he was straight with her, ever since the beginning. He knew who she was, and yet he never tried to get anything out of her. Even now, all he wanted was her body. He still hated her, and she still hated him. He was an egotistical, selfish prick, and she didn't want that personality for her man.

Right now, he was just using her, and she was just using him. They were both bored with their circumstances, and having their enemy brought together during this time, they were drawn to each other. As she felt him growing closer to his end, she realized she knew what she wanted from him.

The excitement of the future of her terrible summer had brought her back to her orgasm. They both quickened their pace, and soon the only sound in the park was their heated breaths, and the slapping of their skin against one another as they both raced for the finish.

She was the first to cum, and he quickly followed, the clenching of her insides creating the pressure he needed, combined with the forward and backward movements of his thrusting, and he spilled his seed into her. He felt his knees weaken, and he gently lowered them to the ground, suddenly fully aware that they were still outside.

He looked around them, his arms still around her as she sat on his lap, her head resting on his shoulder. When he caught his breath, he looked down at the woman in his arms, suddenly realizing the mistake in their impromptu union.

"Uh?" He pushed her so she was sitting straight, and she blinked at him. "So...we kind of did it in the middle of the park…"

"Yes, yes we did." She looked around them as well. "I feel like I should be pissed right now, but then I think of that asshole, passed out in an alleyway, and suddenly I don't care."

"Well, yeah, but, actually…" He caught her eyes and quickly glanced down at their still joined bodies, then back at her. He had to do this a couple times before she finally shook her head. "I'm not wearing a fucking condom," he growled.

She giggled, sending his anger even higher, and she patted his head, which was the last push he needed to be completely pissed. He grabbed her wrist in a tight hold and moved it away from his head.

"Relax, turbo, I'm on birth control." Her earlier amusement had vanished as quickly as his anger surfaced, and they sat there, glaring at one another. After a few minutes, she pushed off him, adjusting her skirt. "You better get back to your brother." She grabbed her shirt and hastily replaced it.

He followed her in standing, pulling his pants back up and buttoning them. "You better get back to your good life," he retorted.

She paused in her ministrations, having been in the process of running her fingers through her hair, fluffing the strands. She turned back to him, a small, unamused smile on her face.

"It was _fucking_ nice to see you again, Zeref," she bit out, turning and walking away from him. He didn't chase after her this time.

~.~

He brought his phone down from his face. He knew it was a mistake to come here. Then again, why did he even care? He shouldn't. He wasn't in the market for a woman, so why did it bother him so much to see them together? He had only met her once, only talked with her for less than fifteen minutes, but seeing her with his brother had hurt something inside him.

He had been drinking, there was no doubt about that. After Zeref left the bar, the other patrons kept ordering him shots, wanting to toast his success and welcome him in their family. Kinana even invited him and Lisanna over for a barbeque as soon as they were all settled.

His stomach lurched at the thought of his wife. Here he was, about to call his brother while he was fucking that woman out in the open, and he was jealous of him. He shouldn't be. Hell, he should be happy for his brother. The man was a loner, hated just about everyone and everything. Then the question rose...how did he know her? There was no way Zeref would just jump some random woman that he innocently met in the park, fucking her mindlessly out in the open where anyone could see them. That just wasn't him. He was a private man, kept his thoughts and feelings to himself.

Natsu clenched his phone, his alcohol induced jealousy giving him the strength to bend the inanimate object in half, but he stopped as soon as he heard the cracking of the poor device. It wasn't it's fault that he decided to play the nice younger brother and pick Zeref up at the park. He didn't want Zeref to be lonely, or get lost.

Well what a nice surprise. Without another thought, he turned on his heel and walked away from them, wanting nothing more than to get home, lock himself in his room, and make love to his wife until the vision of a blonde washed away and he was left with nothing but thoughts of the woman he vowed to spend the rest of his life with.

 **AN: There you have it! So yesterday was my very first professional full-body massage...a little uncomfortable, but now that I have had one, if I ever decide to write a massage scene, I'll finally be able to speak from experience! For the record: I had so many knots in my back that it was actually painful instead of nice. I woke up this morning with a stiff neck. .o Now, back to the story, if you liked, please toss me a review. Don't forget to follow/fave if you haven't yet, and you want more!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Morning, Chief."

Natsu froze upon entering the kitchen. He had completely forgotten about what he had witnessed the previous night, but seeing his brother sitting at the table, calmly drinking coffee, brought it all back.

He adjusted his official, button up shirt, his face growing slightly red. "Uh, yeah. Morning, Zeref. When'd you finally get in?"

"About three."

Natsu's eyes widened. "What the hell are you doing up right now? Aren't you tired?"

"Not really. Then again, I wasn't bombarded by the townsfolk, and each one buying me a shot of whatever."

He blushed and glanced at his wife moving around the kitchen. She smiled at him, bringing him a mug of coffee, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"I don't care," she told him. "I'm just glad you had fun and didn't get in any fights."

He ran his hand through his hair as he sipped his coffee. He vaguely remembered wanting to get into a fight, but, then again, he didn't want to explain himself afterward. He didn't really want to fully explain it to himself.

"So, what do you guys have planned for today?" he asked, sitting down across from his brother as Lisanna placed a plate of eggs in front of him.

"I have an interview," Lisanna announced happily. The boys congratulated her, and she proceeded to rummage through the kitchen. "The Heartifila's are looking for a new caretaker, so I applied for the job."

Both men choked on their coffee, then gave each other curious looks. Zeref didn't know why it was a shock to him hear her surname, but it did, and then to have his brother react the same way was a little odd.

Natsu avoided his brother's gaze. Maybe he didn't know who she was, after all? Besides, Lucy Heartfilia isn't exactly someone who's unknown in this town, considering she's the most powerful man's daughter. He was just surprised to hear her name this early in the morning.

Lisanna was completely oblivious. "Apparently Mrs. Heartfilia isn't feeling too well, so they want to hire someone to help take care of her, since her usual maids don't have time to juggle her and their normal duties." She sat down and started eating, not realizing the looks the men were giving each other. "I have to be there around noon."

"I'll accompany you," Zeref suggested, breaking his brother's stare and smiled at his little sister.

"Oh, that would be wonderful, Zeref! I'm sure Natsu will be too busy what with today being his first day and all." She looked at him and smiled, taking his hand in hers and giving it an encouraging squeeze.

As Natsu smiled back at his wife, his phone started going off. For some reason her words seemed to irritate him a little, but he pushed that feeling down as he stood from the table and answered the phone.

"Dragneel, here," he answered with more scruffiness to his tone than he realized, and he cleared his throat.

"Chief Dragneel, it's Macao."

Natsu nodded, remembering the man from the previous night.

"We just got a call and we're heading to Cubellios. If you can, meet us there."

"All right, I'll head right over."

After he hung up, he grabbed his coffee mug, downed the beverage, and quickly went to grab his official's coat. Lisanna jumped up from the table and followed him, asking questions that he didn't have any answer to.

"He didn't give me any specifics, so I'm just going to head over there now." He wrapped his arms around the worried little woman and kissed her.

"It's probably just a welcoming surprise party," Zeref chimed in from the dining room. "You know, first day haze and all that."

Lisanna gasped and smacked Natsu's arm. "Don't you dare start drinking while on duty!"

Natsu grabbed her hand and held her tight against him, smiling in triumph at her blush. Even now, after being married for a year, he still affected her like that.

"That was one time, and it was an accident," Natsu defended himself. He kissed her again. "Have a good day. I'll see you when I get off."

With that, he left, leaving his wife sighing in the living room. She felt the other man walk up behind her.

"Don't worry," Zeref said. "It's his first day, he'll be fine. It's a small town, nothing like Magnolia. What's the worst that could happen in this place?"

The woman bit her bottom lip, but nodded. "I'm going to get ready. I want to stop by the store before heading to the mansion." Without giving him a second glance, she made her way into her bedroom.

She missed the dark smirk Zeref had on his lips, but it had nothing to do with his brother, or her. He licked his lips in anticipation for going to the Heartfilia mansion.

~.~

"So he was brought into the alley, beaten, and then they set him fire for good measure?" Natsu scratched the back of his head as he looked at the scene before him. "What kind of people live in this town, Macao?"

His subordinate shrugged. "Normally very mellow ones." They stepped aside as the paramedics rolled the body away. Glancing at the crowd that had formed, he sighed. "Things like this don't happen here."

"Okay, I guess we wait until the police are done investigating before we go in to make sure all fire danger is benign." He sighed, but this was his job, and he loved it. He didn't hate that there was action on his first day, he just didn't like how it was at the expense of some poor dead guy. "What I don't understand is that we were here until about two last night, and none of us realized he was there."

"It could have happened after the bar closed. We won't know until they do the autopsy." Macao breathed in a deep sigh and patted the younger man on the shoulder. "Luckily for us our involvement stops as soon as we're done inspecting the damage to the buildings."

"Looks like I'm going to have to postpone my meeting with Mr. Heartfilia," Natsu mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest, watching as a younger firefighter exited the bar and walked towards them, a clipboard in his hands.

Macao raised his eyebrows as he accepted the clipboard. "You had a meeting with Jude today? When?" His eyebrows furrowed as he inspected the notes, saying a thank you to the younger man.

Natsu shrugged, his eyes going back to watching the police and investigators walk up and down the alley. "About an hour. He was going to come by the station."

Macao stared at him, blinking a couple times. "An hour? Shouldn't you get going?"

"I feel like I should be here, with you guys. This is kind of where I belong for the moment, isn't it?"

"The alley isn't going anywhere." The man put a hand on Natsu's shoulders. "A meeting with the boss is a meeting with the boss."

"Are you sure?"

"The fire's already out. This is just a routine check to make sure it won't start itself back up again."

"Again, are you sure?"

"We'll be fine." Macao went back to inspecting the clipboard.

"All right, but please don't hesitate to call if you need me. I'll head right back over as soon as the meeting's over."

"Don't bother. We should be done shortly. There's no real serious damage to the surrounding buildings, so we're lucky it stayed in the alleyway. But we'll call if something comes up," Macao added after seeing Natsu give him a disapproving look.

Natsu dug his keys out of his pocket as he started making his way to his car.

"Chief! There's coffee and donuts in the breakroom! Help yourself!" Macao called after him. He turned and gave the older man a half hearted salute in gratitude. The man sighed and handed the clipboard back to the younger firefighter. "Thank you, son." When he didn't get a response, he looked down, and blinked at the wide eyed expression that followed the chief's back. "Romeo? You okay?"

"That was the new chief?" he asked

"That's him. A little wet behind the ears, but he'll mature in no time."

"He's so cool," Romeo whispered, watching as the chief drove away.  
~.~

Lucy had another dream. She had woken up sweaty and panting, and angry with herself. She growled as she tried to throw her blankets off so she could go to the bathroom. Hopefully there wasn't anyone to witness her sleeping orgasm again. She really didn't want to have to explain anything to Loke.

She had already planned on spending the day at the house, probably going to sunbathe by the pool later. She wanted to avoid seeing any Dragneel, and the safest way for her to do that was by staying home - at least up until she drove herself crazy.

Besides, this would give her a chance to spend more time with her mother. Virgo and Aries were probably spread thin with helping the woman plus their own duties to attend to they might appreciate a little help, and a break.

She glanced at her phone before starting the shower. Well, if she was to start lending her help, the first thing she could do was wake up earlier. Noon really wasn't the ideal time for her to start her caretaker duties. Pressing a few buttons, she set herself an alarm. Noon wasn't an ideal time to wake up _ever_.

She contently showered, taking her time to enjoy the warmth of the water. When was the last time she actually got to just enjoy taking a shower? It had been a long time. At least since before college.

She finished her shower and quickly dressed for the day. She didn't bother blow drying her hair, but she did brush it. The heat from outside had made its way into the house, and the coldness of the wet hair cooled her down immensely. She wore only a spaghetti strap tank top, and her favorite shorts.

She had a mission to go see her mother, and see if she couldn't help in any way. If what her father said was true, then she wanted to be with her mother as much as possible, and help keep her comfortable.

She approached her mother's door, and quietly knocked, however, instead of her mother allowing entrance, the door opened, and a young woman stood there, a small smile on her face.

"Yes?" Her voice fit her appearance, soft and high pitched. She was about an inch shorter than Lucy, but she looked about the same age. Her short white hair was cut at her shoulders, and she wore a flower printed tank top, a light blue skirt, and white flats. She looked absolutely adorable.

Lucy blinked. Now, why was this other person in her mother's room, answering her mother's door? She had gone completely speechless.

"Who is it, Lisanna?" Layla called from her bed.

The young woman turned her body so she could look at Layla, who now had a perfect chance to see who is at the door.

"Ah! Lucy! Come in!" Layla called, and Lucy did as she was told, keeping her eyes on the young woman named Lisanna, who shut the door and quickly made her way back to the bed, taking a seat in a chair that was pulled up next to the bed.

Layla was in the same spot she was in the previous day - the same spot she had spent the last three years, and will spend the rest of her life. She held her arms out to Lucy, who made her way around the opposite side where Lisanna was, and sat down on the bed, accepting her mother's embrace.

"Lucy, I want you meet Lisanna," Layla said, pulling away and holding an arm to the other woman.

Lucy, who seemed to remember her manners, smiled and held her hand out to Lisanna, who accepted her hand and shook.

"Your mother was just telling me about you," the woman said as Lucy retracted her hand and placed it atop her mother's cold, bony hands.

Lucy, who still couldn't find her voice, looked at her mother, who nodded.

"Lisanna is my new caretaker," Layla said, and Lucy nearly choked on her own saliva, which seemed to help her relearn how to use her vocal chords.

"But what about Virgo and Aries?" she asked.

Layla waved her hand dismissively. "Aries and Loke want to spend more time together, and I'm sure Virgo could use a breather. It's not their jobs to take care of me, so your father and I decided to hire someone full time."

"What about me?" She bit her lip to try not to make herself sound jealous or desperate. Besides this was _her_ mother, so she should be the one taking care of her, not some stranger. "I accepted Father's extension, so I'll be here for awhile."

"Lucy, we've already forced you to stay home longer than you originally planned, it's not fair of me to keep you from enjoying your summer. Instead of worrying about me, I want you to concentrate on...the deal."

Layla had discreetly glanced at Lisanna, not wanting to mention Lucy's agreement to meet a man a week, which Lucy felt grateful for, but she still didn't understand why they would waste money to hire someone to do something she was more than willing to do for free.

Layla placed her hands over Lucy's and smiled warmly at her. "Lucy, don't worry about me. Go enjoy yourself. Go to town. I'm sure the people would love to see you again. You can go meet your father for a late lunch or something."

Lucy laughed without amusement. "I wouldn't voluntarily meet him anywhere, Momma, you know that." She sighed, though, in defeat. Her mother was adamant about her doing something for herself. She'd rather spend her free time with her ailing mother, but she couldn't bring herself to go against the woman's wishes. If she wanted someone else to take care of her so Lucy could focus on other things, then there was nothing Lucy could do.

She wrapped her arms around her mother, and kissed her cheek. "If that's what you wish," she whispered.

Layla nodded as they pulled apart. Lucy stood and made her way to the door. However, before leaving, she knew she had to play nice, so she turned back around and waved and smiled happily at the other woman.

"It was good to meet you," she said, forcing to keep the smile. "Please take real good care of her." Before she could let any negative emotions out, she rushed into the hall and closed the door, a little harder than she originally wanted, but she couldn't let any of them see how this decision affected her.

She quickly walked down the hall, not sure where she was headed. She felt her eyes start to itch as they slowly filled with angry tears. How could her mother just decide that she wouldn't want to take care of her? Lucy was her daughter, so it was, naturally, her job to take care of her while she lay on her deathbed.

She didn't want to feel jealous of some random woman they just hired, but she was. Lisanna would get to send the more critical times with Layla, and Lucy wouldn't be able to help at all. For all she knew, she probably won't even know the moment her mother finally passed. If her father had anything to do with it, Lucy would be out on some pointless date with some boring, rich boy, trying to act impressed just to get through the night.

She gulped and tried to force herself to calm down. She shouldn't be angry. This was probably something that was planned before she accepted the extension, so they originally thought she'd only be here for a day to a week, at the most. So, really, hiring Lisanna was probably the best option they had.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, but in that second of blindness, she ran into a hard body. Squealing, she would have fallen back if she wasn't caught by the arms. Lowering her hand, she met those evil black orbs, but, the moment she laid eyes on him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, crashing her lips against his.


	9. Chapter 9

Zeref had just been innocently admiring an abstract painting when he heard someone approach him. At first, he thought it was his sister, and he barely had enough time to notice that it wasn't her before she ran into him. He grabbed her arms to keep her from falling, the only body parts that he could grab in such short notice, but he almost regretted it. It would have been funny to see her fall.

He didn't protest, however, when she practically jumped him, and he pushed her against the wall, his body pressing hard against her own. Their tongues battled for dominance, and he was sure it was a battle he would win. They hadn't kissed yet, despite having sex twice now, and he actually enjoyed feeling her soft lips against his own. They had a rule about kissing, and it was a rule for a reason, but he knew they would never become more attached to each other than now. He still disliked her, and he was pretty sure she still despised him.

He was only slightly surprised to see her, and he did have a split second to notice that she had either been crying, or very close to it. It was probably an extension to her very shitty day that she didn't tell him about when he saw her last. He still wasn't that interested, but he wouldn't refuse a woman who practically leapt into his arms.

He nearly groaned in disappointment when she pushed him back, breaking their contact. Both their bodies were overheating, their hearts pounding in their chests, their breaths coming loud and heavy.

She stared up at him for a couple beats before ducking under his arm that had come to rest against the wall beside her, and stepped away from him.

"What are you doing here?" she accused. She looked around, but he was alone.

"I'm here with my little sister." He licked his lips, still tasting her minty toothpaste from her mouth. She must have just gotten finished brushing her teeth if he could taste the after affects. "I was told I could look around, and so I did." He leaned against the wall.

"Your little sister?" She shook her head, not really wanting him to divulge further. She wiped her eyes with her hands again before running her fingers through her still wet hair. "Why do you always have to show up when I'm at my worst?"

He smirked. "It's like I have some sort of antenna on top of my head that beeps every time you're upset so I can come and gloat."

She groaned and threw her head back, not wanting to deal with his attitude for the moment. However, he did manage to take her mind off her mother. That wasn't an excuse to automatically start kissing him the moment she saw him, however.

 _Why the hell did I do that?_ she asked herself. She turned to continue on her journey to wherever.

"Just don't steal anything, okay?" she said as she started walking away. Unfortunately, he followed her. As soon as he caught up, she glared at him. "What are you doing, now?"

"Well, if I have to be completely honest," he said, pocketing his hands. "I'm actually a little lost. You're the first person I've seen in almost an hour."

"Oh, my lucky namesake is at it again," she grumbled, causing him to chuckle.

"Lucky namesake? What's that about?" His eyes roamed his surroundings as they walked. Even though he was sure he had come down this way, nothing looked familiar. Well, he had to have come down this way, otherwise how else did he get so far into the house?

Lucy sighed. "Do you really want to know or are you teasing me again?"

"Hey, just because I tease, doesn't mean I'm not sincere. You still didn't tell me why you were in that predicament last night."

"We were engaged, I broke it off, and he was pissed. What more do you need?"

"And the namesake?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." Her cheeks flushed slightly as she recalled the story her mother told her of how they came up with Lucy's name. There was no way she was going to tell Zeref. She cleared her throat. "So, you're here with your sister? Is she lost as well?"

"No. At least I hope not. She's here for an interview, and I'm just here as an escort."

Lucy stopped in her tracks, and Zeref had walked down a little ways before he realized that she had stopped. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's your sister's name?" she asked, her voice coming out breathy, her eyes widened slightly.

"Lisanna. Why?"

So, that was Lisanna Dragneel? Was that woman Natsu's wife? Or did Zeref have another sibling he failed to mention? Lucy couldn't stop her fists from clenching as she ground her teeth together. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and she probably didn't think she was imposing on purpose, but Lucy couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy hit her as she thought about that woman in her mother's room right then.

She had to get out of that house, and she didn't want to go to her room to change into a bathing suit for her sunbathing idea. No, she had to get off the property. She didn't know why this was affecting her so strongly. Maybe she needed a cigarette? When was the last time she had one? Last night with Zeref...so not that long ago, and she was already feeling agitated?

She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, rubbing out the frustrations that had suddenly surfaced. Zeref had watched her in silence, watching as her expressions changed with her thoughts. She was an enigma, and he wondered why he didn't try to get to know her more. Hell, if he was going to be in this town for awhile, yet, he might as well enjoy it in her company. So far, other than his own family, she was the only one he could stand to be with for more than five minutes, not to mention the activities they seemed to enjoy while in each other's company.

Zeref cleared his throat and glanced around. Speaking of which, he was still a little affected from their kiss they had not a few minutes ago, and he didn't want to walk around in this uncomfortable situation.

Lucy jumped slightly when Zeref cleared his throat, almost completely forgetting he was still standing in front of her. She crossed her arms over chest.

"What?" she asked, irritatingly. He had cleared his throat, but he wasn't looking at her. When she finally spoke, he looked at her again.

"Is there somewhere private we can…" again, he cleared his throat. "talk privately?"

She glanced around them. "We're talking privately now?"

Upon looking back at him, she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, understanding what he was asking. He was smirking at her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You're the one who jumped me first," he said. "I'm just trying to finish what you started."

She shook her head and looked away again. "It was a mistake. I was frustrated." She squeaked as he grabbed her and held her body against his.

"And now I'm frustrated," he practically growled, rubbing his nose against her earlobe. She shivered at the contact. She was both willing to continue and wanted nothing to do with him. Without another word, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him with her as she walked backwards. He took this as an invitation to place soft kisses along her neck, smirking as she gasped, her breath shaking as it emitted from her mouth. He rubbed his hips against hers, and he could hear her softly moan in response to his silent promise of what was to come.

She hit a door behind her, and he fumbled for the knob. He didn't know where they were going, but she seemed to think it was okay. He trusted her that much, at least.

Finally getting the door open, they practically fell into the spare room, but he was quick by grabbing the doorway, swinging them around so she thudded against the wall. He lifted his face for only a second to locate the door and shut it, before resuming his attentions to her neck.

She opened her eyes only long enough to notice the bed on the other side of the room. Despite their sudden want for each other, she refused to have sex anywhere other than a bed again. She wasn't saying that she wouldn't enjoy having him pound into her while she was on the wall, but, after last time, she felt it was overdue for them to be in a bed.

With just a little bit of strength needed, she pushed herself off the wall, and he happily allowed her to lead him to the bed, his mouth having moved down to her chest where it remained attached.

There were no gentle touches, slow worship, or unneeded words of affection as they tumbled onto the blankets. It was purely animalistic as they tore at each other's clothes, trying to get naked as fast as possible. He only took a split second to rub her entrance to make sure she was wet and ready for him. She barely had enough time to moan as he palmed her before he roughly grabbed her hips and shoved himself into her.

His mouth played with her breast as she clung to his shoulders, gasping and moaning his name as he thrust into her. He wasn't gentle by any means - the pain from him biting her breast and the bruises she was sure to have on her legs from his fingers actually fueled her pleasure. They were wasting no time, and within minutes she came, clawing at his back. He followed seconds after, forcing himself to pull out before his seed was let out inside her, creating a hot, sticky mess all over her stomach.

He fell beside her, both of them trying to calm their pounding hearts. As soon as he was able to make noise again, Zeref began laughing. Lucy looked at him and blinked.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"I knew it would be a good idea to accompany Lis here," he said, rubbing his hands over his face. Lucy huffed as she rolled over and smacked his chest as hard as she could. He hissed, more from the sound than the actual smack, and it only caused him to laugh harder.

"Get yourself dressed and help me clean up this mess," she ordered, sitting up. "You didn't have to do that. I told you I'm on birth control." She audibly groaned as she felt the liquid slowly trail down her stomach, but there was nothing to wipe it off with. She thought, for a brief second, if she should use his shirt, since it was his mess.

She turned her body a little to try and locate her discarded clothes, but froze as she was suddenly grabbed, one hand on her waist, the other under her jaw, guiding her face so she was looking at him over her shoulder. Smirking at her, he gently bumped her nose with his, sending a flurry of butterflies fluttering about excitedly in her lower stomach. She didn't know why she enjoyed it so much when he did that, but, all the same, she couldn't stop the goofy smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Your bruises have gone down," he muttered, his fingers gently stroking her cheek where a bandage had been only previously.

Lucy had forgotten all about them. She had taken the bandages off before going to bed last night. They must have gone down immensely since her mother had been only inches away from her and didn't notice a thing.

He huffed quietly through his nose before gently placing his lips against hers. Their previous rule of no kissing had been broken the moment she attached herself to him only moments before in the hallway, and he had to be honest with himself: he enjoyed her lips, he enjoyed the taste of her skin, of the inside of her mouth. He enjoyed the way her hand snaked its way up his jaw, his cheek, and grabbed his hair tightly. He enjoyed the thought that maybe he didn't hate her as much as he previously did, more like tolerated her now. He had previously assumed staying in this little town was going to be a drag, and, frankly, quite boring. Now, however, he could be truthful with himself and say that he was actually looking forward to spending the next month there, as long as she was around to keep him company.

He slowly pulled away from her with a smirk. He relished the way her cheeks were flushed, her lips were wet and swollen from his kisses. The way her eyes stared back at him, half-lidded, and her breath coming out in short pants was causing his body to harden again, and he was pretty sure he'd take her again at least once more before he was to leave.

Again, he bumped their noses together, and chuckled as she drew in a quick breath. "I think I'm going to like it here," he whispered, before reclaiming her lips again.


	10. Chapter 10

Natsu sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He barely had enough time to enjoy his new office, but now that he was finally alone, he revelled in it. He had no clue that he would become the fire chief at such a young age, and he almost didn't go for this job when it was revealed to him. Everyone ushered him to apply for it, and, lo and behold, he was called.

He was a little nervous at first, being younger than most of the firefighters, but seeing how laid back and calm they all were gave him more confidence in his ability to run the station. He ran his fingers over the cool metal of the placard. _Natsu Dragneel, Fire Chief,_ it read. Glancing up at the door, he smiled as he read the same words on the glass.

His meeting with Mr. Heartfilia was absolutely painless, as well. It really was just a welcoming meet and greet with the boss, with the most powerful man in town, probably the county. Jude Heartfilia wasn't at all as intimidating as Natsu had heard him to be. Then again, this was their first meeting, and Natsu just didn't have a chance to see the other side to Jude. After all, the man even invited him and his wife to dinner at the Heartfilia estate.

And, just briefly, did he wonder if he would see Jude's daughter there. He almost accepted the invitation for that reason, alone. However, he soon came to his senses when Jude mentioned that he had a brief moment to meet with Lisanna before leaving the estate. Lucy Heartfilia was soon forgotten as the two men talked about the younger man's wife, and how lucky she is to have an opportunity to work in such a position. Natsu had thought it was just an interview, but, apparently, with Jude's approval, the woman was hired before she even stepped foot onto the property, just because she was his wife. He silently debated whether or not to actually share that with Lisanna, not sure how'd she take receiving such news.

Their meeting ended with a handshake, a congratulations, and the placard as a welcoming gift. Natsu did take a second to call Macao to see if he was needed, but the older man said they were already on their way back to the station, their work pretty much over with. So, without anything else to do until the crew returned, he decided to call Lisanna to see how things were going.

" _Hello?"_ It only took two rings for her to answer, but she sounded winded, like she was out of breath.

"Hey, how did everything go?"

" _Oh, Natsu!"_ She sighed in relief, and he had to take a moment to wonder what had happened. " _Everything's fine! I'm actually on my way home now."_

For some reason, he didn't like how she sounded. "Did you get the job?"

" _Yes. Mrs. Heartfilia is so wonderful, I'm so sad for her. I guess the doctors told her she shouldn't expect to live passed this winter."_ He could hear her voice break. " _It's so heartbreaking that she seemed to have accepted it. The only person she doesn't want to worry is her daughter, which is understandable."  
_  
"Her daughter?" He closed his mouth tight. He hadn't meant to show interest, and he hoped Lisanna didn't hear that tone of concern. He could still remember the way she looked on the train, full of life that she had yet to live, and he didn't blame her mother for not wanting to worry her.

" _Yes, Lucy. I feel bad for her. She showed up during my time with Mrs. Heartfilia, and she didn't seem at all happy that I was there to take care of her mother instead of her."_

Images of her and Zeref the previous night flashed in his mind again. "Well, she must be a busy girl, and probably doesn't have the time to take care of her mother and do all the things that's most likely on her plate, but she's too modest to admit it."

" _Natsu, don't say that. The poor girl looked like she was about to cry when she left."_

 _The poor girl_. Natsu smiled at his wife's pity.

" _Oh, and, before I forget, Zeref said that he won't be home for dinner."_

"Where'd he go?" Natsu blinked.

" _He said that he had something he wanted to do."  
_  
 _Probably her…_

Natsu bit his lip harshly to keep from letting anything slip. He was still trying to push these feelings down. He had only met the woman once, for crying out loud. He was happily married to a wonderful woman, and Lisanna didn't deserve that. Let Zeref have his fun. It was refreshing to see him actually enjoying himself for once, instead of constantly scowling at everyone and everything all the damn time.

Natsu blinked. Lisanna said that she was on her way home, and Zeref wasn't with her. That meant that she was currently driving, and talking on her phone. Normally, she wouldn't do that, but she would if it was he who was calling her. He silently swore.

"Lis, call me when you get back home, please?" He groaned. "I don't want you to get into trouble for talking while driving."

A husky laugh sounded through the earpiece. " _That's fair. I'll call you back as soon as I get home."_

They said their goodbyes and Natsu hung up just as there was a knock on his door.

"Come in."

Macao hurriedly walked in and placed his palms on the desk, leaning forward. "I have a name on the kid in the alleyway."

Natsu blinked. Was that okay? Was that information even publicly released already?

"It was Macbeth."

As if that answered all the questions in Natsu's brain. The younger man raised an eyebrow.

"As in that play by that one guy from a million years ago?"

Macao sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You meant the play by Shakespeare, only a few hundred years ago." He wasn't sure how their new chief didn't know about Shakespeare, but, honestly, none of them got their job by knowing who that man was. "Macbeth is engaged to Lucy Heartfilia. Well, _was_ engaged. I suspect she wouldn't want to marry a dead man now, would she?"

Again, Natsu blinked. Engaged? No, she was supposed to have called off the engagement. She even gave him the ring, which he still had kept locked away safely. But, what if her attempt to break it off, failed? Did she get angry and kill the man? Would she be so desperate to be free of him that she had to kill him?

No. Natsu barely knew the woman, but he did know that she was no killer. Apparently someone who liked to sleep around, but not a killer.

Naturally, Natsu hadn't really been at all curious who the dead body was, but he understood Macao's excitement. This was a small town where things like this never happened. In Magnolia, it happened all the time. He didn't want to say he used to it, but he kind of was.

He glanced up at Macao, and sighed at the man's excited expression, waiting for Natsu to join in with his elation. The older man probably had an entire drama playing out in his mind - the stresses of rich life, both parties of the engagement having an argument over something, she got mad, killed him, and, because she's rich, she feels like she can get away with it.

Natsu shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts - they were completely ridiculous, even to him - and stood up.

"I'm going to go grab something to eat," he told the other man as he walked out of his office. "I'm so hungry. I didn't get a chance to really eat breakfast and I've been stuck here with Mr. Heartfilia all morning."

"How did that go?" Macao followed him.

"Pretty painless, actually. He welcomed me to town, gave me that desk thing, and invited me to dinner sometime."

"He invited you to dinner?"

"I don't think it was anything but a formality, but my wife is his wife's caretaker for the time being." He watched as Macao picked his jaw off the floor. "What?"

"That family must really like you."

"Why?"

"Well, he hired you to be chief." Macao emphasized his statement by waving his hand towards Natsu's office. "They hired your wife. Obviously they trust her enough to take constant care of the woman. You two don't have any ulterior motives, do you?"

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, what with everything that's happened this morning - "

"Stop." Honestly, Natsu didn't have the energy to be a part of whatever fantasy world Macao was pulling him and his wife into.

~.~

Natsu walked through his front door that evening, caught sight of the couch, and collapsed onto it, face down.

"Honey I'm home," he muffled in the fabric.

He heard a gasp and his wife was at his side in mere seconds. "Natsu! What happened? Are you okay?"

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her onto him, smiling triumphantly as she shrieked. He pressed her mouth against his. He couldn't remember feeling happier to come home to his wife. He figured it was knowing he had a good job, good health, a nice house, and a loving wife to come home to. He could tell she was happy, as well, when she immediately returned his kiss.

He shifted so he was laying on his back, and she had to straddle his waist to keep from falling. He rubbed his hands over her back, relishing the way she felt so delicate under his rough, calloused hands.

She pulled away, her face an appealing shade of red, her mouth stuck in a goofy grin. "Good day at work?" she asked.

"We had something in town earlier, there were a few kids playing with matches, and I inherited the godly amount of paperwork from the previous chief." He closed his eyes in contentment. "Probably the most boring day at work I've ever had, and it was amazing."

She sat up and proceeded with rubbing his chest, emitting a sound from him that sounded like a mixture between a growl and a purr. She giggled, loving when he made that sound.

"Boring is good, sometimes," she stated.

"There definitely isn't as much stress here as back in Magnolia."

"And are you okay with that?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her, resting his hands on her thighs. Of course he was okay with it. He couldn't count how many times he would walk through the door after a day at work, and she would throw herself on him, crying tears of worry because he had to go into another burning building. He hated having her feel that way, but it was his job, and he loved it. He made this move for her.

He had to be okay with it.

"It was amazingly refreshing," he said. "Now, tell me about your day. Now that you're home and not driving, you can give me your full attention instead of sharing me with the road."

She blushed. "You know I'll never ignore a phone call from you, no matter where I am or what I'm doing."

He smiled. It was the mentality of someone who had a loved one in a job like his. He knew she wouldn't have to think like she used to, now that they moved away from the big city. He expected he wouldn't be called out every day, anymore, and, being chief, he wouldn't be the one running into the burning building anymore.

"Well, first thing that happened when we got there," she began, "we were seen in by a woman who, I kid you not, had the same hair color you do. That was entertaining. Then we ran into Mr. Heartfilia, who personally took me to his wife, leaving Zeref alone. I felt a little bad, but he didn't seem to mind it. I hope he didn't get into any trouble."

"Oh yeah. What is he doing?"

"I don't know. He just told me he was going to do something and won't be home until later."

"Okay. More food for me then." He gave her a wide, toothy smile, which she returned. "Continue."

"Well, I was sitting with Mrs. Heartfilia, and she was telling me about my duties, strictly business. Then, after about fifteen minutes her daughter shows up. She put on a happy face, but I could tell she wasn't happy that I was there. When she left, Mrs. Heartfilia asked me to try to make friends with her. I guess they're pretty much keeping her home against her will, is what I thought she was trying to tell me. She looked pretty old to be forced to stay home, but I guess that's what happens when you're born into a rich family. They broke off her engagement, but she has to stay home for a few months. I don't know all the details."

"Hm. Lifestyles of the rich and the famous," he muttered. "You'll never know all the details, except for the shitty parts so they can revel in your pity. I wouldn't worry on it too much. I'm sure they're making it sound worse than it actually is."

She shrugged. "Well, I start at six in the morning. I don't know if I'm looking forward to that part, and then not leaving until she's sleeping at night."

"Sounds like you have it worse than I do, and I'm a firefighter." He pulled her down to place a kiss on her forehead. "You'll be fine. You love helping people. You were born for this. I can't imagine you hating any part of it."

"Thank you," she replied quietly, gently placing her lips against his.

It didn't take long for him to deepen the kiss, feeling the excitement of having his wife sitting on top of him the way she was. He brought his hands down to her waist and snaked them under her shirt. She sighed and pressed her hips harder against him, creating a grunt from him as she rubbed against his suddenly hard member.

"It's a good thing Zeref isn't here," he said in a low, husky voice.

"Why's that?" She clutched his shoulders as he gripped her hips and held her against him.

"Because this would be really awkward for all of us." He wrapped his arms around her and flipped them so he was the one on top. He continued to ground his hips into hers, drinking up her gasps and moans. He hated the clothing barrier, but just as he was about to pull her shirt over her head, a loud beeping noise interrupted them.

Lisanna gasped and crawled out from under him, falling onto the floor. She scrambled to her feet as she ran to the kitchen. Natsu groaned and shoved his heated face into the cushion of the couch.

"Dinner's ready!" she called from the kitchen.

Again, he groaned. He didn't hate that dinner was ready, he just hated that it was ready when he was feeling confined in his pants. He sat up, about to trudge himself into the dining room, but a thought came to him.

Dinner would still be there, but the thought of having his _wife_ on the table was making him crazy. He jumped off the couch and ran to the dining area, creating a squeak from her as he wrapped her arms around her from behind and held her against his body.

In which he was severely reprimanded by a hard swat to the arm with a burning hot spatula...

* * *

 **AN: So, I had been so busy with other things, and worrying about finishing my other story, that I completely forgot to update this one. My bad! Sorry. And, I realize not much happens in this chapter, but, if I remember correctly from back when I typed it, I realized I hadn't really had much of Natsu and Lisanna in awhile, so I made this one. As always, thank you for the reviews and faves and follows, and don't forget to do so this chapter, either.**


	11. Chapter 11

Zeref was silent. He had to be, otherwise he'd wake up the sleeping blonde next to him. He was having a moment of fear, of pure terror. He hadn't meant to spend all day with her, and he definitely hadn't meant to spend the good part of the night with her, either. It had been difficult to get away. When the time for him to leave would approach, both of them would come up with an excuse to keep him there for just a little bit longer.

He quickly grabbed his clothes and hurried into the bathroom. Without the light on, he felt a little more freedom to get dressed.

He didn't know what to think. At first, it was just a fling, just two people having fun in the bedroom. Seemed pretty innocent, right? That was, until he pushed her to finally tell him about her shitty day, which had extended to earlier when she first saw him in the hallway - which promptly ended the moment she started to get overly emotional, crying and getting incredibly angry, and whatnot. If there was one thing that came out of their day spent together, it was him being glad his family wasn't rich. Some of the things she had to do to please her family were beyond ethical - his personal favorite was when her father made her seduce the son of a potential client, just to deny him once the deal was made, her virtue, and the contract, still intact.

Honestly, he wasn't surprised by most of the things she'd done, it was all pretty harmless, but it reminded him of something the noblewomen would do in olden times, cunning and full of pure evil. She was much more interesting than he'd originally thought; and so young!

He had no idea she was two years younger than he - they were in the same graduating class in college, after all, studying the same sciences, literature, and mathematics.

Unfortunately, she had learned things about him, as well. He couldn't believe how easy it was for him to open up to her. He told her about where he grew up, the boy he used to constantly fight with from down the street, about the creepy old guy who used to give the children in their neighborhood candy - until one of the boys went missing and he ended up going to prison. Compared to her life of luxury, he was almost embarrassed about his upbringing.

As soon as he was fully dressed, he rested his elbows on the counter, staring at himself through the darkness. He had to fight himself to turn the water on and splash the coldness on his face to calm him down. He had to stop shaking.

He didn't want to leave her. He wanted to climb back in bed and hold her until dawn, and that was why he was forcing himself to leave. Maybe trudging through his boredom with her wasn't such a good idea, after all? He should hop on the first train passage out of this town and go back to Magnolia. There things made sense, he could go back to the way he was supposed to be spending his summer. It was still early - only a week, so far - it's not too late to seclude himself in some barren destination, helping those of lesser fortune become productive in the current society.

He sighed and pushed himself up, clenching and unclenching his fists as he tried to calm down. What he should be concentrating on is figuring out how to leave without raising suspicion from the woman in the room, or anyone else who might be prowling the grounds - a security guard, perhaps. He knew the men who protected this place were no regular hired guns, they were professionals, their lives devoted to the safety of the home and the people inside.

Yes, Lucy even managed to talk about them. So what was he supposed to do, spend the rest of the night in the bathroom? He plopped himself on the toilet with an exasperated sigh. He was never that great at sneaking in and out of places like Natsu - that boy had a gift, one Zeref was seriously lacking in. They shared many qualities, but they weren't the same. For example, the sneaking around. For one so rambunctious and impulsive, Natsu could pass for a ninja, if he really wanted to. Zeref, on the other hand, was much more calculating, only seeing the profitable sides of things.

Spending a whole day in bed with Lucy Heartfilia was not profitable for him, no matter how much he thought about it. It was a moment of weakness, one only a _man_ could fall for, and that was the only part about being a _man_ that he hated. He could have been fine if he didn't have to relieve those sexual frustrations. And now look what happened…

He groaned and leaned forward, resting his forehead on his arms, which were crossed over his legs.

"Zeref?"

He jumped at the soft sound, accompanied by a knock. Great, now she was awake. Well, leaving her home might be easier if she was aware of it.

"Are you okay?" She knocked again. "I heard you groan."

He stifled a laugh. Of course she would be concerned. He was in the bathroom, audibly groaning - what else was she supposed to think?

"Yeah, I'm fine," he croaked. He cleared his throat, damning his vocal chords for being so weak in that moment. "I'll be out in a minute."

A rustling noise was heard, followed by a soft thud against the door. "If you want to leave, it's okay," she said. He could tell by the uplifting pitch of her voice that she was smiling. She was amused by his behavior. "There's no obligation for you to stay. Honestly, I'm surprised you're still here."

That clever girl. He smirked and stood from his spot on the toilet, making his way to the door.

"Well, it's not exactly easy sneaking out of a well guarded mansion." He opened the door, not knowing that she had placed herself against the wood. She hadn't been expecting him to open it, and she toppled backward, but he caught her. "What would people think if they saw a strange man sneaking out of the princess' bedroom at such an ungodly hour of the night?"

She pushed off him and placed her hands on her hips, giving him a grand view of her nightgown that she had found. It was such a plain piece of satiny fabric, he almost reached out to take it off her, to feel the softness of the sleek gown. He bit back a groan as he imagined what it must feel like, how it must look flowing up her body, her skin breaking out in shivers as it gently brushes against her...

She must have thrown it on right after he escaped into the bathroom, he realized. She knew what he was planning, and she didn't look the least bit distraught over it.

"If it bothers you that much," she started, shifting her arms so they were crossed over her chest. She glanced out the balcony doors. "I could show you an empty room for you to pass the rest of the night. You don't have to stay here, with me, but at least you can wait until morning before you go sneaking off." She smiled and looked back him. "The guards might be a little more lenient to see you in the morning instead of in the middle of the night."

He had to say something. He had been quiet for too long, letting her steer the conversation, but he couldn't decide what he wanted to do. He wanted to leave; he wanted to stay.

"It's probably best if you leave, though," she continued, shrugging so nonchalantly that it almost drove him crazy how easygoing she was about all this. Normally he was the one who didn't give two shits about this sort of event, and yet he was currently questioning their relationship and she was the one who didn't care if he stayed or not. Since when did the roles become switched?

"Why's that?" he asked when she didn't comment further.

"I would hate for Loke to show up while I have someone in my bed." She shivered

He knew Loke was just the bodyguard. He knew Loke was like her older brother. He knew Loke was already in a relationship with someone else - Lucy was very thorough - but he still felt that alien sense of jealousy. Oh, it wasn't the first time he felt jealous, it was just the first time it involved a woman.

He both hated it and loved it. He fought to keep his hands down, wanting nothing more than to vigorously scratch at his head until his thoughts made sense again. He bit his lip, hard, and sighed.

"Does he randomly show up, often?" he asked through clenched teeth. He hoped she didn't notice how aggravated he was. He needed sleep.

"Some times." She awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, not seeming to notice his reactions. "He used to watch me sleep, but he got his ass kicked for it, by many people, so he tries to wait until after I woke up - "

She stopped when she finally looked back at him. She had been trying to avoid his gaze, but the moment their eyes connected, she knew she had made a mistake, though why it mattered, she didn't know. His fists were clenched, his face was set in a hard scowl, his lips twitching in an almost menacing way. His eyes were dark - she could tell, even though the only light was the moon that shone through the doors - and she suddenly regretted what she had said.

She let her arms drop and took a cautious step toward him. She was ready for him, if he snapped. Macbeth had gotten the better of her, only because she hadn't thought he had it in him to strike her. Zeref was different. She had always sensed a sort of danger around him, the way he carried himself, the way he would glare from under his eyelashes, or the way he'd threaten to disembowel someone for accidentally bumping into his shoulder - that she witnessed one day during school, and she felt bad for the freshman who was unfortunate enough to have done that.

"Are you okay?" she asked. She tried to keep her guard up when around him, but it had become harder and harder recently. Now, however, she threw her guard up faster than if he actually had swung at her. His silence was more dangerous than his actions.

Upon hearing her voice, he jumped and blinked, seeming to come out of a daze. Immediately he calmed, his mouth smoothing into that charming smirk she liked.

"Well," he said, reaching out for her. She stiffened as his hand came to rest at the base of her neck, pulling her closer to him. "Wouldn't it be better if I did stay? That way I could let him know, once and for all, to not sneak up on you in the mornings?"

She gulped, his sudden change both alarming her and exciting her. The way he rubbed his fingers against her skin, under her hair, created goosebumps on her arms. He gently wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled them back to her bed.

Despite the way his touches affected her, they ended up just laying in bed, both staring at the ceiling, both thinking the other asleep, both rethinking their choices from the day.

~.~

Lisanna was at the Heartfilia mansion before Natsu even had a chance to wake up. Though she did leave him snoring in their bed, she still had the heart to make him breakfast. She just hoped he would wake up on time.

She had to bite her lip as she remembered their night together. There was a fire in him that she hadn't seen since he was a boy, granted his playfulness from last night differed greatly from when he was ten, but it was still a relief to know that he could still act like the man she originally fell in love with.

She entered through the servant's entrance in the back of the mansion, like she had been instructed to do, and she was greeted by two other women in the locker room. She had met them the previous day, so she knew they were the twins Aries and Virgo, both beautiful and unordinary names. She had mentioned, when she met them yesterday, how amazing it was that they had pink hair, and each one told her that it was genetic. She thought it was absolutely coincidental that their hair matched Natsu's, who was also born with the color.

"Good morning, ladies," she said, brightly. The twins turned to her and greeted her.

"You're early," the short haired, Virgo, one said. "Mrs. Heartfilia doesn't wake up for at least another hour."

Lisanna shrugged as she put her belongings into her wooden locker, and took out her uniform. "I knew it was going to take me awhile to find her room, so I thought I'd come in early in case I got lost."

The longer haired one giggled, but stopped as soon as the focus was on her. She cleared her throat and apologized. "It's an easy thing to do," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It took me nearly a month before I could navigate through my designated areas."

Her sister grinned at her. "But isn't that how you met Big Brother?"

Aries blushed and quickly finished dressing. "I'd rather not talk about how we met," she mumbled.

"Which one is your big brother?" Lisanna asked.

"He's not our big brother." Aries shot a glare at her sister. "He just likes to be called that. He's my - "she cleared her throat. "He's Loke, the head of security."

Lisanna blinked. She remembered him, he was the one who showed her to Mrs. Heartfilia the day before. He was tall, handsome, and quite flirtatious. What did he mean to Aries if he wasn't her big brother? Changing her shoes, she watched the twins finish getting ready. It suddenly hit her, and she chuckled quietly to herself. _Come on, Lis,_ she thought to herself. _You're not supposed to be the dense one of the relationship._

"Oh!"

Lisanna jumped as Virgo cried out. Whipping around, she saw the taller one practically shaking her sister. Tilting her head, she thought this was quite odd, since Virgo always seemed so calm and collected.

"Virgo!" Aries cried, her voice quivering. "Please stop shaking me."

"I went to check on the princess last night, and I forgot to tell you that she had someone with her."

Aries gasped and Lisanna blinked, straightening her clothes. Having finished getting ready, she was planning on heading to her destination, but she couldn't help being curious. Who was the princess?

"Did you see who?" Aries asked. She clenched her fists. "Was it Loke?"

"No, it wasn't Loke. But it wasn't her ex-fiance either."

"Virgo, it isn't nice to gossip about Miss Lucy." Aries glanced around them, looking almost panicked. "She'll tell us if she wants to. You know she will."

"I wonder if it's that dark haired stranger I saw yesterday." Virgo completely ignored her sister.

Lisanna blinked, freezing in the middle of adjusting her skirt. She couldn't help it, she was addicted to gossip. She'd never openly admit it to anyone, but, back in Magnolia, she was one of those women who lived for celebrity magazines. There are many reasons why she'd be interested in hearing about the daughter of the Heartfilia name having a stranger with her, but, mostly, it was for pure curiosity.

Not to mention there were too many connections that pointed to Zeref. Was her brother-in-law in a relationship with one Lucy Heartfilia? How scandalous. Ah, who was she kidding? It was absolutely amazing. She never felt more proud for the moody man, for being able to find a likeness in the blonde heiress.

Wait...he wasn't just fooling around with her because of her name, was he? Lisanna sure hoped not. She would have to have a talk with him, without Natsu - because she knew her husband would blow the whole thing out of proportion and make it seem bigger than it actually was.

Lisanna sighed and walked out of the room, leaving the twins to their daydreams, if what they were doing was actually daydreaming.


	12. Chapter 12

Lucy sighed as she felt her body quickly heating up. The sun was merciless, and it was only ten in the morning. Glad she had remembered sunscreen, she rolled over on to her stomach. She decided to take her previous day's idea to sunbathe next to the pool, and she was enjoying it to the fullest.

Despite waking up alone that morning, she didn't feel the least bit upset about it. She wasn't lying when she told him he could leave and she wouldn't mind. What bothered her about the whole thing wasn't that he managed to leave, it was that she woke up alone, and was still okay with it. the words of Loke a couple days before and run through her head, and he was right. She wasn't the type of girl to fuck around with just any random guy, and, even though Zeref wasn't random, she thought she hated the guy. She still did, right? He was a stuck up asshole, thought he was better than everyone else, smarter, the most good looking guy around.

She hated people who acted like that. So why was she constantly thinking about him? Why did she kiss him instead of punch him yesterday? He didn't say one word of pleasantry, romance, or anything nice at all to her, and she ended up spending the whole day with him. She'd told him stories that not even her friends knew about. Granted, she was trying to hide her family life from her friends, not wanting them to know just who she was, but the words just spewed from her mouth, and all he did was ask how her morning was going.

Maybe it was because he already knew who she was, family-wise, and he didn't care. At first, she knew, he absolutely hated who she was - a Heartfilia, spoiled princess who could do anything she wanted, and Daddy dearest would never say no to her, though Zeref's imagination was greatly exaggerated because Jude Heartfilia says no pretty often - and even now he still seemed completely indifferent about her social standing.

Sighing again, she willed herself not to think about him anymore, knowing she'd just hurt her head the more she tried to reason what was going on. Sitting up on her lounge chair, she took her hair out of its ponytail, with full intent on jumping in the pool. However, as she stood up, a voice called out to her, and she turned to the house to see her father, followed by a large, muscular man and Loke, all of whom were walking up to her, rather quickly. Sighing deeply, she put her hair back into a ponytail, knowing her time outside was now done.

"Lucy, I need to talk with you," her father stated as he approached. His tone was strict, and she knew she was either in trouble, or someone else was and she was just taking the blow for it. She crossed her arms over her chest, wishing she had something to cover up with - the two bodyguards were giving her looks of appreciation for standing there in just her bikini - but she kept her face in a frown.

"What do you want?" she asked.

The moment her father reached the poolside, he copied her stance, crossing his arms over his chest. "Where were you two nights ago?"

"What is this, an interrogation?" she scoffed. "Where were you on the night of the fifteenth at 4:14 in the morning?" She dropped her voice as low as she could make it, making fun of her father, who wasn't amused at all.

"Answer me, girl," he barked, causing Lucy to jump. She glanced at Loke, but his face was blank, and he shook his head at her, signalling her to not piss Mr. Heartfilia off.

She shrugged. "I went to town to cool off," she answered easily, lowering her arms and sitting back on the lounge chair.

"Did you see Macbeth?"

"Do you really think I'd go see him, voluntarily?" She lay back down, closing her eyes.

"Why can't you just answer my questions without giving me a smartass response, you insolent brat." Jude stood in the way of her sunlight, making her look up at him. He couldn't tell, but her eyes were wide. She realized he was mad - beyond anything she'd ever remember seeing before - and she was a little nervous now. She couldn't even remember a time when he'd called her anything other than her name - or girl - before.

She leaned up on her elbows. "What's the matter with you? Why all the questions in the first place?" She glanced at the two silent guards, but they weren't paying attention anymore. The big man was practically blowing smoke from his nostrils as he admired her body, and she really wished she could cover up.

Jude took a moment to decide whether or not if it was a good idea to tell her the details, but he thought she'd deserve to know.

"Macbeth was found dead yesterday morning in an alley by that bar in town," he said carefully, gauging her reactions.

Lucy's heart nearly stopped. Dead? No, when they left him, he was just unconscious. Well, neither of them physically checked, but Zeref didn't _kill_ him, right? Sure, he threatened to kill a bunch of people lots of times, but never actually carried any of it out.

Her eyes widened. What if his beating actually killed the poor, fragile, narcoleptic freak?

"I did go to the bar, but I don't remember seeing him at all." The lie flowed from her tongue, flawlessly. She was able to play ignorance by her shock. Who wouldn't be surprised to hear their ex-fiance was just found dead, in an alley behind a bar that everyone knew he wouldn't step anywhere near.

What shocked her the most was why she was lying for Zeref. There she went again, contradicting herself. She hated his guts, so why did she say she never lay eyes on Macbeth that night? Besides, even if she told the truth, it was all in self defense. He was hurting her first, and Zeref just came to her rescue. They didn't know he _died_.

But she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.

After mulling this information in his mind for a moment, Jude dropped his arms and latched his hands together behind his back.

"Very well. That's all I needed to know." He turned to leave, but stopped. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

Lucy flinched at the sudden accusation. "What? Seriously?" she shrieked. To be honest, she'd never lied to the man a day in her life, but she knew immediately denying it would pretty much be a confession. However, just those two words seemed to be enough for him, and he nodded and walked off, the big man following.

Loke grabbed a chair and pulled it close to her, sitting in it. She hadn't moved an inch, glaring at the back of her father's head. Not that she was claiming complete innocence in the whole thing, but it was a little insulting how he'd just walk up and ask her about that night. He should automatically trust her, right? She'd never done anything remotely close to actually killing someone, and, technically, she didn't kill that boy.

"They found him behind Cubellios," Loke explained. "The coroner said it looked like he was in a fight, but he lost, and then they set him on fire."

Lucy choked as she gasped. "They set him on fire?!" That was both a blessing and absolutely terrible. A blessing because then they weren't the ones who killed him; absolutely terrible because he had been burned to death.

Loke nodded. "Naturally, the investigators suspected the ex-fiance, but since you lied through your teeth to make yourself innocent, you'll be fine."

"Loke - "

"I've known you since you were a baby. Maybe _he_ can't tell when you're lying to him, but I can." He nudged his sunglasses down his nose and stared at her from over the top of the lenses. "Look me in my eyes and tell me you didn't have anything to do with that."

She blinked a few times. A few minutes ago, she would have failed his test, but with the information he gave her, she was confident in her innocence. "I had nothing to do with it." Her gaze never wavering, Loke nodded and leaned back in his chair, pushing his glasses back up.

"But you did see him," he concluded.

"He tried to get me to explain myself," she muttered, lying back down. "I wasn't going to tell him anything. It wasn't his business, but he got rough with me."

"Rough how?"

"He hit me."

"He what?!" Loke jumped up from his seat, nearly falling into the pool, but he regained his balance. His fists clenched as his nose twitched in anger. "That little bastard is lucky someone else got to him before I did."

Lucy shrugged. "I'm over it."

Loke immediately relaxed, sitting back on his chair. "You've changed," he mused.

"What do you mean?"

"A few years ago, if someone told you that a person you knew had died just moments after you saw them, you'd be freaking out."

She shrugged again. "People grow up, Loke. Don't worry, you'll get to it eventually."

"Maybe." He breathed deeply as he stood up and stepped up to her. He gently placed his hand on her head. "Try not to change too much, kid," he said before walking off back to the house. "Oh!" He spun around as he remembered what he actually wanted to tell her. "So word is there was a mysterious, handsome, dark-haired stranger sneaking out of your room this morning."

She blinked at him as he leaned closer to her. She looked away, unable to hold his scrutinizing stare.

"Care to tell me about it?" He poked her cheek, and she swiped him away.

"No."

"Aw, please? This is big news for us! First you're having sexy dreams, and now a man is sneaking out of your room? I don't know what to think anymore!"

"How about rethinking your choices of sneaking into my room every morning? He didn't seem so pleased to hear you do that."

Loke's mouth slowly grew, a devious smile appearing on his face. He nodded and patted her head again. "This isn't over, Lucy." He stood and left, pocketing his hands and whistling as he went.

Lucy turned her head and watched him leave. Was he right? Had she changed that much for him to be aware of it?

Briefly, she wondered if Zeref knew about what happened, and if he had gotten home safely, before she lay back down and tried to relax in the sun.

* * *

 **AN: So, I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been having work troubles - troubles, as in, we just found out that my pharmacy is going out of business, and so I've been trying to find a new job, figure out how I'm going to support my family, stay in our apartment, etc. Not to mention my router and my internet modem both died within a few days of each other. First the router, so I had to wait a week to buy a new one, then, the modem started acting up, and we had to wait to for a free moment to take it in to get replaced...ARG! Anyway, here's a little short snippet, more to come! Please review, and don't forget to follow/fave, if you haven't already.**

 **Coming up next chapter: Natsu and Lucy finally meet again! Whoo, exciting stuff.**


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